I Cannot Guess What We'll Discover
by Auden Grey
Summary: Beck and Jade broke up after graduation. A year later, they're reunited after his television show goes on hiatus for the summer. As much as she told herself she was over him, Jade knew it was a lie. She was still irrevocably in love with Beck Oliver. But was he still in love with her?
1. Reunited 'Cause We Understood

**Soo instead of looking for a summer job I decided to start writing a new story last weekend. Who needs money anyway, huh?! This won't be too, too angsty...at least not for now. This also has a heavy Cat/Tori/Jade friendship focus as well as Beck/Jade! :)  
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"Beck's coming home today."

Jade couldn't help but smirk at the trepidation in Tori's voice. She continued to bang the keyboard on her PearBook with a shrug. "So?"

"Well, he called and wanted to come over tonight," Tori carried on cautiously. She bit her lip when Jade shrugged again. "Is that okay?"

"I don't care," Jade admitted shortly. She closed her laptop and gently tossed it on the coffee table. As much as she loved making Tori squirm, she nodded. She and Beck had been broken up for close to a year. She was over it by now. "I'll behave if that's what you're worried about."

Tori smiled and patted Jade's shoulder. Shortly after graduation last year, her parents moved to Santa Barbara, leaving her the house. With Trina "modeling" in Japan, she invited Jade and Cat to move in with her. While Cat attended a small community college for fashion design, Jade pursued acting and had since been in three horror movies that were pretty popular. Tori signed with Andre's start up label and they were currently putting the finishing touches on her debut album.

"Do you think he'll be the same?" Tori asked Jade in wonderment. "I mean his TV show is the highest rated on the network."

Jade turned on the TV and flicked through the channels. "Only because he's shirtless every six scenes."

"I thought you didn't watch?" Tori asked coyly. She nudged Jade's shoulder with her own teasingly. "I told him Cat and Robbie would be coming home from their camping trip tomorrow. Maybe we can do it then."

"I'd rather get it over with," Jade mumbled. "I'm still trying to picture Cat in the wilderness." With that, she chuckled.

"Poor girl," Tori said sympathetically. "Who knew she'd last this long without a hair dryer?"

"Or Robbie," Jade added in sharply. She was still not quite keen on the idea of Robbie and Cat dating. Though it had been close to six months, she wasn't convinced Cat could really handle the intimacy of a relationship. Heck, the longest "romantic" relationship Cat ever had lasted a grand total of 82 hours.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Cat ran in the house, making a beeline for the TV. "Television! I've missed you!" she squealed, hugging it tightly. "Tori! Jade! I've missed you!"

Tori and Jade winced as Cat dove on the couch and laid across their laps, her tiny fingers gripping the red couch cushion. "Don't worry, Cat," Robbie said from the doorway. He was clearly out of breath. "I've got the bags."

"Kay, kay!" Cat said in satisfaction when she heard Robbie drop the luggage.

"I thought you guys weren't coming back until tomorrow?" Tori asked curiously. She patted Cat's back as she sat up and nestled herself in the small space between her and Jade.

Robbie cleared his throat nervously. "Uh, you know…change of plans."

"Robbie got a tick in his…private region," Cat giggled.

Tori and Jade both burst out laughing for three consecutive minutes.

"Is it still there?" Jade asked curiously. "Please tell me it is."

"No!" Robbie yelled, obviously frazzled. "Cat! I thought we were going to keep it between us."

Cat tilted her head in confusion. "You did not make that clear."

"What part of 'don't tell anyone about this!' isn't clear?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Cat asked shyly. She looked at Tori and Jade, then back at Robbie. "Yes? No? Oh! Maybe so?"

Robbie sighed and collapsed on the couch next to Jade. "I had to go to the doctor on the way home. He…he removed it very carefully."

"The doctor said Robbie probably doesn't have lemon disease. Yay!"

Jade rolled her eyes. "It's Lyme disease, Cat."

"Oh my gosh!" Cat gasped, burying her head in her hands. "Was that racist?"

"Did she sleep at all on the car ride home?" Tori asked Robbie curiously.

"Nope," Robbie admitted carefully. He distanced himself from Jade and stood up to inspect something on the shelf.

"I didn't sleep a wink this whole weekend," Cat complained with a high-pitched whimper. "The tent was so smelly and we had to sleep on the ground! Then I thought a bear was outside but it was just the wind."

"I told you not to go camping with Nerd Breath," Jade told Cat slowly. An overtired Cat was the worst kind of Cat there was. She rambled non-stop and whined at every little thing.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Cat cried in offense. She rubbed her eyes until they were dry and itchy.

"I take offense to that!" Robbie guffawed. "I do not have nerd breath!"

"Your breath is _kinda_ smelly," Cat giggled. "Especially after you ate those stinky chips!"

"They were sour cream and onion!"

"Oh my god, enough," Jade groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Tori stood up and patted Cat's head. "Come on, Cat." She turned around and motioned for Cat to get on her back. "Hop on."

"Yay, a ride!" Cat squealed. She stood on the couch and launched herself on Tori's back, squeezing the brunette's neck tightly. "Where are we going?"

"To bed," Tori said as she headed for the stairs.

"Aw, are you tired?" Cat pouted.

"No, but you are," Tori chuckled. By the time she reached Cat's bed, the redhead was out cold. She carefully dropped her in the middle of the bed and covered her with a fuzzy pink blanket.

Downstairs, Robbie peered at Jade curiously. "Beck's coming home, huh?"

"Stop with the small talk," Jade demanded. She turned up the TV. "In fact, stop with the talking. You returned Cat in one piece. Bye."

Robbie feigned offense and brushed the lint off his shirt. "I told you nothing would happen to her. I think I deserve some respect!"

Jade responded by pushing Robbie off the couch. She smiled in satisfaction when he hit his head on the table and curled up in the fetal position. "How's that for respect?"

Tori looked at Robbie in confusion when she came back downstairs. "Why are you on the floor, Robbie?"

"J-Jade injured me!" Robbie cried out in pain.

"You have no proof of that," Jade said in a sickeningly sweet tone. She kicked Robbie's back gently. "Get up before your girlfriend sees how pathetic you look."

"Cat's out like a light," Tori told Jade. "She's not waking up for a long time."

Robbie finally willed himself to sit up and adjusted his glasses accordingly. He eased himself back on the couch. "What time is it? I have to pick Beck up at the airport at five," he asked giddily. "I can't wait to see him."

"Control yourself, Shapiro," Jade said hotly. "You look like a cat in heat."

"Don't mind Jade," Tori advised Robbie sweetly. "She's just nervous to see Beck. That's all."

"Vega!" Jade hissed. It took all of her strength not to reach over and smack the smirk off Tori's bony face. "I am not! Beck and I broke up a year ago. One YEAR ago. I'm fine!"

With that, she stomped up the stairs.

"I don't know about you but she doesn't seem fine to me," Robbie stage whispered to Tori. "Beck did kind of break her heart."

Tori just shrugged. "True," she mumbled in agreement. "But she also didn't want to hold him back. It was a big opportunity for Beck."

"Also true," Robbie said. "However, Jade did mope for like three months. I don't think I've ever seen her that…hurt."

"Maybe you should get a head start on picking up Beck," Tori suggested when the doorbell rang. She knew it was Andre. Since Jade was probably pouting upstairs and Cat was sound asleep, they'd get some alone time finally. It was almost their one-year anniversary after all. "Might be traffic."

"You're just kicking me out cause Andre's here," Robbie complained. He sighed dramatically and shuffled his feet over to the door. "I'm leaving," he said to Andre dejectedly.

"Okay?" Andre said, patting Robbie's back when he walked past him. His eyes lit up at the sight of Tori on the couch. "Hey, baby," he greeted coolly, dropping a kiss on the top of Tori's head. "Where is everyone?"

"Jade's probably upstairs prepping for Beck's arrival and Cat is sound asleep," Tori said excitedly. "Which means you and I are alone."

"Alright." Andre grinned and pulled Tori on his lap. "It's about time you and I were alone."

Jade cleared her throat when she was halfway down the stairs. "Don't even think about having sex on that couch."

Tori pulled back from Andre with a sigh. "I thought you were hiding in your room until Beck got here?"

"_Oh_," Jade snapped. She rummaged through the fridge for a bottle of water and took a long gulp. "It's like I told you; I'm fine with Beck coming over."

"You sure?" Andre asks quizzically. "You look like you're sweating."

Jade slammed the bottle down on the counter. "I don't sweat!"

"You sweated that one time last year in the RV," Tori reminded her roommate thoughtfully. "Oh, and you definitely sweated a lot during our little jog around the park yesterday."

"Jade West jogging?" Andre scoffed. "I can't picture that."

"Picture my foot crushing your insides," Jade seethed. "Can you picture it now, wazz bag?"

"I can picture it clearly," Andre mumbled in fright. He reached for Tori's hand and held it to steady his rapid heart rate. Even after being friends with Jade for so long, he was still so scared of her. Who wouldn't be?

"Good," Jade said in satisfaction. "Now move over," she demanded, plopping down next to the couple. "The directors cut of _The Scissoring_ is on in five minutes."

"We'll just go upstairs," Tori said faintly, pulling on Andre's hand. "You enjoy your movie…"

"Wusses," Jade muttered under her breath. She grabbed the remote and turned on the horror channel, a big grin spreading across her face.

It immediately faded when she saw the tail end of a behind-the-scenes special they were doing on Beck's show _Twisted_. Admittedly, she hadn't seen a lot of his show. It still kind of hurt. After all, it was what he left her for. _Twisted_ did indeed skyrocket him to fame literally overnight. Suddenly, he was everywhere. Billboards were all around the city promoting the breakout hit of 2013.

Jade couldn't turn away. Beck's hair was much longer than it was the last time she saw him. It was almost down to his shoulders. He had a little scruff on his face that made him look a lot hotter than he already was.

"Whatever," Jade finally said to herself. She muted the TV and waited impatiently for her favorite movie to come on. But she couldn't concentrate. Not even when Tawny Walker-Black sliced her best friend's throat open in one swift motion.

Jade fiddled with her ratty old band shirt and ran a hand through her slightly greasy hair. With just her and Tori around lately, she certainly had no need to impress her. After some heavy internal debating, Jade shut the TV off and stomped up the stairs and straight into the shower.

Forty-five minutes later, her hair was curled, her face was made up, and she may or may not have purposely sprayed herself with Beck's favorite perfume. She pulled on her favorite black dress and debated whether or not to hide her cleavage. She decided not to. Beck was probably going to drool over her no matter what.

"Wow, look at you," Tori commented from the doorway teasingly. She invited herself in and plopped down on Jade's bed.

Jade scowled and crossed her arms. "What do you want, Vega?"

"Nothing," Tori said, fixing her tousled hair. "Just wanted to see how you're doing. Robbie texted me and said they're on their way."

Andre popped up and strolled in. "Damn, girl," he whistled, looking at Jade in approval. "Who you trying to impress?"

"No one," Jade argued rather quickly. "I wear this dress all the time!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you in that dress," Andre said. He rubbed Tori's shoulders and lazily draped an arm around her waist. "Are you trying to show Beck what he's missing?"

Tori agreed with her boyfriend. "You know, I was thinking that!"

"Bye!" Jade hissed, motioning for the couple to leave.

Andre held his hands up in defense. "Be careful, Jade," he said softly.

Jade rolled her eyes at Andre's attempt at instilling some type of big brother wisdom on her. "Whatever."

After Andre and Tori left the room, she sighed and let Andre's words sink in. She sat down on the bed and reached for the leather jacket lazily draped over her desk chair. She pulled it on and fixed her hair in the mirror. It was a lot shorter than it was the last time she saw Beck. Would he like it? Was he going to miss the highlights? Jade quickly dyed her hair solely black four days after Beck left for New York. The highlights were a constant reminder of how much he loved running his fingers through them and telling her how sexy they looked.

She shook her head and stood up, brushing off the imaginary lint on her dress. What was she doing? She was totally over Beck. He barely crossed her mind these days. But why now all of a sudden was he back invading her memories? Beck broke her heart. Absolutely shattered it into a million pieces. She barely left the house for over a month.

There was no way she was putting herself through that again.

With one last look in the mirror, Jade took three deep breaths when she heard the doorbell rang. But instead of going straight downstairs, she made a pit stop to Cat's room. Sometimes Jade wished she could live in Cat's little naive world. Everything was so happy there. She carefully opened Cat's door and smiled softly at the sight of her best friend curled up in the middle of the bed sound asleep. Mr. Purple was clutched protectively in her grip as she contently sucked on her thumb.

She just looked so small and innocent. How could she quite possibly handle being in a relationship? She'd be nineteen in a month. But Cat was still kind of trapped in her childish world where there were no problems. Only happy things.

Jade smiled and perched herself on the edge of the bed, shaking Cat slightly. 99.9 percent of the time Cat was a grump if woken up. "Cat," she said softly, brushing the hair out of her friend's face. "Wake up."

It took Cat a minute to stir, but when she did, she whimpered in annoyance and buried her face into Mr. Purple. "Nooo."

"Beck's here."

Cat immediately shot up. "He is?"

"Yes," Jade confirmed with a nod. "Didn't Robbie tell you he was coming home for the summer?"

"No," Cat pouted. No one really told her anything. "Are you happy?"

"Sure."

Cat sighed and fiddled with Mr. Purple's ear. "Are you guys going to be nice to each other? I don't wanna listen to you two fight."

"I'll behave," Jade promised. She knew how hard Cat took the breakup. It was just as bad she took it. Cat always sort of viewed them as her parents. They took care of her and protected her. When they broke up, her ideal world developed a crack. And when Jade sulked around and shut everyone out. It was the only way she knew how to cope. But then Robbie came along and slowly started patching up that crack. Jade was terrified if things went sour with Beck being home for the summer Cat would be the most affected.

Cat leaned forward and hugged Jade, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I think I'm going to take a quick shower! I still smell like the outdoors."

"Yeah you do," Jade joked playfully, tickling Cat's sides. "Wish me luck."

"You don't need luck," Cat smiled from ear to ear. She crawled off the bed and grabbed her obnoxiously bright towel. "Tell Beck I'll be down soon!"

Jade nodded and followed Cat out of the bedroom, watching as the little redhead skipped happily to the bathroom. When Cat was out of sight, Jade slowly began to descend the stairs. She could hear Beck's stupid Canadian accent floating through the living room.

Their eyes met for the first time in nearly a year when she reached the bottom step. There Beck was, with his ridiculous looking hair pulled back into a bun and scruffy face, smiling up at her like nothing happened. Jade forced a smile back.

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as bad as she thought it would.

But when Beck closed the distance between them and swept her off her feet with a tight hug, she took in the scent of his all too familiar cologne and let the memories take over. He set her down and held her at arms laugh, his goofy grin still in tact.

"Look at you," Beck said, the pad of his thumbs rubbing Jade's forearms.

"Look at you," Jade countered. She couldn't help but pull at his bun. "You know you look ridiculous with that hair, right?" Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Robbie, Tori, and Andre watching their interaction cautiously.

"Yeah," Beck chuckled, self consciously rubbing his head. "It was for the show. I'm probably going to cut it this week since we're on hiatus."

"Don't," Jade said quickly. She cleared her throat when Beck looked at her. "Or do it. Whatever, I don't care."

Beck smiled again. "So…how are you?"

"Great," Jade answered honestly. "My new movie's coming out soon."

"Yeah? That's great. I'm happy for you."

"Uh, thanks."

Jade was glad when Beck's cell phone began to ring. It broke the awkwardness. He excused himself and took the call out on the back deck where Sinjin and Robbie used to spy on the Vega's in high school.

"Beck!" Cat's loud voice preceded her as she ran down the stairs excitedly.

"Careful, Cat," Tori winced. The number of times Cat fell running down the stairs was close to a hundred. "Don't fall."

Cat disregarded Tori's warning and jumped down to the landing. She looked all around for Beck and pouted when he was nowhere in sight. "I thought Beck was here? I don't see him!"

"He's on the deck, cutie," Robbie assured his girlfriend with a wink. When she was at ease, he smiled.

"Kay, kay!" Cat beamed. She looked at Jade pleadingly. "Can I go see him?"

"You don't need my permission," Jade muttered, gesturing for Cat to go.

Cat gave Jade a quick hug and skipped to the glass doors frantically. She threw them open just as Beck was hanging up the phone. "Beck! Beck!" she squealed, throwing herself into Beck's arms.

"Hey, Cat," Beck greeted with a smile. He scooped the little girl up with ease and held her. "When did you get so grown up looking?" It wasn't a total fib; Cat did look slightly more mature but the childish glint in her eyes never dulled.

Cat twirled her fingers around her ponytail and giggled. She wrapped her arms around Beck's neck and hugged him tightly. "I missed you."

"I missed _you_," Beck smiled against Cat's shoulder. "I heard you and Robbie are dating now, huh?"

"Yeah." Cat took her head off Beck's shoulder and nodded. "For almost six months now."

"Is he good to you?"

"Yeah!" Cat said frantically. "But last week he made me cry and Tori and Jadey broke his glasses." She smiled shyly. "They still treat me like a baby sometimes. I'm a big girl!"

"They just love you," Beck said softly, gently setting Cat down on her feet. He smiled when her tiny fingers wrapped around his wrist.

Cat forced a smile and buried herself in Beck's arms. She felt the tears well up in her eyes. It had been so long since the six of them had been in the same room. The feeling was almost too overwhelming.

Jade cracked the door open and sighed when she saw Cat clinging to Beck like her life depended on it. "The pizza's here."

Beck rubbed Cat's back. "We'll be right in."

"What did you do to her?" Jade asked once she noticed Cat had tears running down her cheeks. "Why is she crying?"

"Jade, relax," Beck began calmly. "I didn't say anything."

"Well you must have done something-"

Cat pulled back from Beck and wiped her eyes. "No! These are happy tears. I promise!"

"Happy tears?" Jade scoffed. "There's no such thing as happy tears."

Beck bit his lip so he wouldn't respond. Instead, he took a breath and ruffled Cat's hair. "You should go get some pizza before Tori and everyone else eats it."

"I'm just happy we're all back together," Cat finally responded after wiping her eyes several times. She reached for Jade's hand and used all her strength to pull her best friend close. "It's like we're a family again."

"Yeah," Jade agreed softly, not wanting to upset Cat. She pulled back and gently guided Cat away from Beck. "Go get some pizza, baby girl."

Cat's gaze flickered from Jade to Beck. "Aren't you guys coming?"

"You guys coming in? Pizza's getting cold," Andre said from the doorway, taking a large bite of pepperoni pizza.

It was Beck who broke the long silence. "Yeah," he nodded, giving Cat a gentle push toward Andre. Cat complied and scampered in the house when she saw Robbie grabbing another slice. "After you."

"What a gentleman," Jade griped sarcastically. She stepped in the house and frowned when she saw Robbie feeding Cat a piece of pizza.

"Can we talk later?" Beck whispered to Jade once he got inside.

Jade took a bite of food and shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Can we catch up then?"

"Maybe," Jade said vaguely. She sat down next to Tori and Andre and continued stuffing her face.

"Be nice," Tori said covertly when Beck wasn't paying attention.

"This is me being nice," Jade argued innocently. "Go suck your boyfriend's tongue somewhere."

Tori rolled her eyes and dropped the subject. She watched Jade's body stiffen as Beck sat down next to her. Despite Jade's repeated reassurance, Tori knew her roommate was going to have a hard time adjusting to Beck's presence.

She just hoped this summer wasn't going to be a repeat of the last one.


	2. I Won't Become What I Was Before

**Holy cow, thank you for all the reviews! I'm glad you seem interested in this story. I find it fun to write. I hope it will love up to your expectations. Now I'm nervous!**

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After four days of Beck's incessant needling to meet for coffee, Jade reluctantly agreed. But there was no way she was going alone. Not yet. Since Tori was off somewhere with Andre, Cat was her only option. Jade spotted the little redhead lazily lounging on the couch watching some annoying cartoon.

"You're coming with me," Jade demanded hastily, shutting the TV. She left no room for Cat to protest and pulled the small girl up with ease. "Now."

Cat knitted her eyebrows together in confusion as Jade pulled her toward the door. "Where are we going?" she questioned curiously. "Wait! I'm still in my jammies!"

Jade looked down at Cat's candy themed pajamas and scowled. "It's 3:30 in the afternoon!"

"I'm having a lazy day!" Cat protested with a cute pout. She ran up the stairs to change and grab Mr. Purple. "Okay, now I'm ready!"

"Do you have to bring that _thing_?"

Cat petted Mr. Purple and cuddled him close. "He's not a thing! And yes I do! He's still mad I didn't let him come camping with Robbie and I. He wasn't allowed 'cause he was grounded."

Jade didn't bother to respond. She practically backed out of the driveway with Cat's door still open. The younger girl screeched in protest and quickly buckled herself and Mr. Purple in. "Where are we going?"

"To see Beck," Jade said sharply. As they got closer and closer to Jet Brew, she felt her heart begin to race. "Except he doesn't know you're coming so just hide behind me until we see him, okay?"

"Oh! Like a surprise?"

"Sure," Jade deadpanned. She peered over at Cat when the light was red and rolled her eyes as the girl started to whisper to her giraffe. "So you've been out of school for like three weeks now. Are you planning on getting a job?"

"Yes," Cat huffed, sticking her bottom lip out. "I'm just…taking my time!"

"You can't live off your parents forever."

Cat sighed and fiddled with Mr. Purple's ear. "I knowww," she said dramatically. "I'm going to get a babysitting job soon. I promise!"

"You? Babysitting?" Jade burst into laughter. Cat was practically a child herself. Who in their right mind would trust her alone with a kid?

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Cat gasped in offense. "I'm a great babysitter!"

"Have you _ever_ babysat before?"

It took Cat a few minutes to respond. "No…but I have watched my neighbor's pet goldfish while he went away! But my brother ate it so he never asked me to pet sit again."

"I rest my case," Jade mumbled.

Cat just giggled and peered out the window. "Where are we meeting Beck?"

"Jet Brew," Jade replied flatly. She purposely took the long way to delay seeing her ex-boyfriend. It's not that she didn't want to, she just wasn't sure what he wanted to "talk" about.

"But I hate coffee!"

"So get juice," Jade said in irritation. She was suddenly rethinking her decision of bringing Cat with her.

"Kay, kay!" Cat was happy again.

When they finally reached Jet Brew, Cat watched in confusion as Jade drove around the parking lot at least six times. She missed four or five open parking spots. "Uh, Jade? Why are you driving around in circles like my brother?"

"I'm looking for a parking spot!"

"There's one!" Cat pointed out happily. "And another. Jade! You're missing all the spots! Just pick one!"

"Don't be such a backseat driver," Jade told her friend shortly. She groaned and finally pulled in a spot that was furthest away from the entrance.

Cat blinked. "But I'm in the front seat."

"It's an expression, Cat," Jade said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I don't get it," Cat continued on. "How can someone be a backseat driver if they're sitting in the front? Wouldn't they be a front seat driver?"

"Cat," Jade began rather calmly. "If you shut up now, I'll stop at Barney's Bibblery on the way home and buy you some bibble."

"Really?" Cat's eyes were about to pop out of her head. "Pinky promise?"

"Yeah, whatever," Jade grumbled. The only way she could get Cat to stop squealing was to lock pinkies with her. "Stay behind me while we walk."

"I got you, girl," Cat promised with a wink. She muffled her laughter into Mr. Purple and skipped happily three or four steps behind Jade.

Jade was just about to pull front door open when her phone rang. She stepped aside and nearly knocked Cat over. "Move," she hissed. Cat did as she was told and sat down on the small wall lining the entrance. Jade looked at the screen and frowned when it was Beck. "What? I'm here."

Cat muffled her giggles into her hands. "And so am I. But you don't know that!"

"What do you mean you're running late?" Jade barked into the phone. She glared at an innocent woman passing by who happened to stare out of curiosity. "How late are you going to be?"

"Hopefully not too late," Cat told Mr. Purple softly. "Or else Jade's gonna get soooo grumpy."

"I heard that," Jade hissed, covering the phone with her hand. She rolled her eyes when Cat just shrugged with a dimply smile. "Ugh, fine. See you in exactly ten minutes. Any later and I'm leaving."

Cat stood up and watched as Jade threw her PearPhone back into her bag. "You look mad."

"And you look like you want all your pretty red hair cut off."

Cat's eyes widened and she frantically shook her head. "No, no!" she squealed, wrapping her precious hair around her little hand. "Let's just go in and find a table."

Jade pulled the door open and practically pushed Cat inside. She ordered her usual (black with two sugars) while Cat grabbed the last empty table. "Thanks for getting me something!" Cat whined when Jade came back to the table.

"I'm not your maid," Jade snipped. Despite the coffee being piping hot, she took a large sip and sighed. She dug in her purse for a five-dollar bill and threw it at Cat when she couldn't take anymore of her pouting. "There. Go get some lemonade."

"Kay, kay!"

When Cat disappeared, Jade slumped down in the chair and began to play a game of Grumpy Gerbils to curb her nerves. Every now and again she looked up to make sure Cat was still waiting in the long line. The last thing she needed was Cat wandering off because she spotted something shiny.

"I got here with four minutes and sixteen seconds to spare."

Jade cursed when she let the gerbil die and looked up to find Beck peering down at her with a grin. "Congrats," she deadpanned. "Sit."

Beck slid in Cat's seat and looked all around. "You didn't get me anything?" he teased. When Jade glared, he held up his hands. "Only joking."

Before Jade could say anything, she spotted Cat creeping behind Beck with an excited smile. The ice from her pink lemonade in her hand kept swirling around, causing Beck to turn around before Cat could surprise him. "Hey, Cat!"

"Wow! Beck's here!" Cat said dramatically. "And so is Jade! And so am I! What a coincidence, huh?"

Jade wanted nothing more than to smash her head on the table. "Oh my god," she groaned. She was never, ever, ever using Cat as a buffer again. "Cat!"

"Whaty?" Cat asked innocently as she chewed on her blue straw.

"I'm gonna go grab a coffee," Beck said, looking back and forth between the two girls. "Do you want anything?" When they shook their heads, he patted Cat's shoulder and went to stand in line.

"He looked so surprised," Cat giggled, obviously very proud of herself.

"I'm going to smother you in your sleep," Jade said harshly. "And now I'm definitely not getting you bibble."

Cat gasped. "But you promised! You can't just break a promise! It's un-American. "

Beck returned just as Jade was about to scare Cat with more threats. He pulled up a chair from another table and positioned it so he was right next to Jade. "So," he began awkwardly. "How have you ladies been?"

"Lovely," Jade griped. She took another sip of coffee.

"How have _you_ been?" Cat countered with a giggle. She barely got to speak to Beck when he was over visiting a few days ago. He had to leave "early" but didn't give a reason. Cat figured it was because Jade spent half the night ignoring him.

"Good," Beck chuckled. "When does your movie come out, Jade?"

"In three weeks," Cat answered for Jade. "Jade has a shirtless scene in it," she added in shyly, completely oblivious to the looks Jade was giving her. "Oh, but don't worry! She was too scared to do it so it's a body double."

"Cat, go get a muffin," Jade demanded lowly. "Now."

"But I'm not hungry."

"Yes, you are," Jade said through gritted teeth. If Cat didn't leave the table, she was going to reach over and choke her. "You told me you were hungry before Beck got here."

"But Jade!" Cat gasped in mock surprise. "I didn't come with you. We met here by chance! Remember?" She shook her head at her friend.

Beck cleared his throat. "Am I missing something here?"

"No," Jade said before Cat could. "Cat, go get a muffin."

"Jade," Cat whined. "I'm not hungry! Did you take some pills to make you go cuckoo? My brother did that once. He ran through the neighborhood naked and tried to marry a stray cat."

"You know what, Cat? I'm kind of hungry," Beck said, hoping to save Cat from Jade's murderous glare. "Will you get me a muffin?"

"Sure!" Cat beamed, taking the money from Beck. She skipped away with Mr. Purple and got in line.

All Beck could do was laugh.

"What?" Jade asked, her eyebrow knitted together.

"Out of all people you bring Cat as a buffer?"

Jade feigned innocence. "_No_. She, she just followed me into the car and wouldn't leave. You know Cat…"

"And I know you," Beck countered with a wink. "You're lying through your teeth."

Jade didn't respond. She finished her coffee and shrugged. "Fine, whatever."

"What did you think I was going to do? Propose?"

"I hope not," Jade guffawed. "I wouldn't have said yes."

"Jade, I'm joking," Beck said seriously. He ran a hand through his hair. He had at few more minutes with Jade alone. Cat was still in the back of the line. "I just wanted to catch up and see how you were."

"Why? Because the last time you saw me I was a sniveling mess?"

Beck traced the rim of his coffee cup and sighed. "I was hoping we'd be past that."

"Oh, I am," Jade scoffed angrily. "I am so past that. Don't you worry, Beck."

He tried not to think about the last day he saw Jade. She had come to the airport to say goodbye and to wish him luck. But once they broke apart, there was something inside of her that just snapped and she begged and pleaded for him to stay. Jade West did not beg. She looked so vulnerable and innocent clutching the lapels of his leather jacket that he took off and gave to her to keep as something to remember him by. He remembered Tori and Andre holding her back while he hopped into the security line.

There were days where he wished he stayed. He wished he could trade the fame for Jade.

Today was one of those days.

"Here's your muffin!" Cat chirped happily. She put the plate down in front of Beck and plopped down in her seat. "I got you blueberry because it was the last one and it looked sad."

Jade rolled her eyes good-naturedly. She watched Cat pick at the muffin covertly. "I thought you weren't hungry?"

"Well," Cat said, stealing a sip of lemonade. "When I was in line I started to remember that maybe I was _kinda_ hungry!" She took another piece.

"It's all yours," Beck said, sliding the plate over to Cat. He smiled when she squealed and leaned over to hug him. "Enjoy."

Cat mumbled something incoherently. Beck and Jade knew that would distract her for some time.

"Did you really kill your aunt?" Jade found herself asking. Okay, _maybe_ she decided to catch up on Beck's show last night. "I mean, on the show."

"Ah, so you watch?" Beck's eyes lit up.

Jade shrugged. "Maybe. Or I just see the previews on TV. They usually give away everything without me having to watch the whole show."

"Your show's too scary for me," Cat piped up with a pout. "I tried to watch one episode but it was too scary. I don't like seeing you being mean, Beck."

"It's only acting," Jade defended Beck quickly. "Do you really think I would kill you in your sleep like I did to that irrelevant actress they cast in my last movie?"

"No," Cat shook her head. "I never believe you when you tell me you're going to smother me in my sleep! You're only just saying those things to make me be quiet."

"Yet it never works," Jade mumbled.

Beck laughed and ruffled Cat's hair. "I'm sorry Danny scares you. He kind of scares me too, Cat."

"Really?" Cat asked in wonderment. "His long hair also makes you look funny. Like a lion!"

"Yeah, like Robbie's hair isn't funny," Jade said defensively. She caught Beck's smile out of the corner of her eye and frowned. "It does look frizzy sometimes."

"Okay, enough about my hair," Beck cut in when Cat giggled. He self-consciously tugged on his hair. "It's not that bad, is it?"

"Well you do kind of look like a girl," Cat said innocently, kicking her legs under the table. "But a really pretty girl!"

"What do you think?" Beck asked, turning to Jade and looking her straight in the eye.

"I like it," Jade replied softly, looking down at her empty coffee cup. "I'm gonna get another coffee. Do you want anything?"

"Oh! I want-"

"No? Okay," Jade said, ignoring Cat's whines.

Beck waited until Jade was out of earshot to speak. "Hey, Cat," he whispered, patting the redhead's forearm to get her attention. "How's Jade doing?"

"How's Jade doing at what?" Cat blinked on confusion.

"Never mind," Beck said with a sigh. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with an overly confused Cat. It had been so long he almost forgot how to handle her.

"Jade was sad," Cat answered after a long pause. She held Mr. Purple tighter and jutted out her bottom lip. "She cried a lot and hid in her room all the time."

Beck scooted closer to Cat and hugged her. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Cat promised. She smiled up at Beck. "Maybe if your show filmed in LA you'd still be together."

"Maybe…"

"I think you would," Cat continued wistfully. "I think she still loves you. Do you still love her? 'Cause if you do, you can get back together!"

Beck rubbed Cat's back and let her go. "It's not that simple, Cat."

"I understand. I don't like it, but I understand."

Beck enjoyed the rare moments where Cat actually could actually process the truth like an adult and not like a petulant child. She was more perceptive than she let on.

"Here," Jade said dully, forcing a cake pop in Cat's hands. "Enjoy."

Cat gasped in pure delight and wrapped her arms around Jade. "Thank you!"

"No bibble though," Jade said matter-of-factly.

"I hope you're not eating bibble," Beck said to Cat sternly. "Do we need to call Oliver again? You do remember what happened in high school, right?"

"Cat is toooo busy enjoying her cake pop to answer your questions," Cat replied robotically. "Please leave a message at the beep and she'll get back to you as soon as she can. BEEEP."

Beck and Jade wore identical expressions of disdain.

"You," Beck said, pointing an accusatory finger at Jade, "shouldn't even be bringing up bibble when she's around."

Jade smirked and held her hands up in defense. "Oops."

Beck deemed it safe to reach over and lightly tap Jade on the thigh. She didn't push his hand away. Instead, she playfully slapped his arm. Cat just watched the two interact with a large smile. Maybe things would be okay after all! She decided to let her two friends have a moment and sat back in enjoyment.

But her enjoyment was cut short when Beck's phone rang. "I'll be right back," he said, disappearing out the door.

"Go follow him and see who he's talking to," Jade said to Cat quickly. "Now."

"Aw, but Jade!" Cat sighed in annoyance. "I just started a really nice day dream about puppies wearing sunglasses!"

"I will buy you bibble."

Cat got up as if her pants were on fire. She tiptoed out the front door and spotted Beck near the bushes, pacing all around.

"I can't talk right now," Beck said into the phone. "I'm at Jet Brew."

Cat crawled behind the closest bush to Beck and clapped her hand over Mr. Purple's mouth. "Ssh, Beck can't find us here."

"Does it matter who I'm having coffee with?"

"Uh oh," Cat whispered to Mr. Purple. "I wonder who he's talking to? Oh," she giggled quietly. "I forget you can't talk sometimes!"

"I'm not having this conversation now, okay? I'll call you later."

Cat shrunk further down in the bushes when she heard Beck's footsteps. She strained her ears and quickly covered her mouth when she heard a faint "love you, too."

There was no way she could tell Jade Beck was probably talking to a girl. It would break her heart all over again!

"Cat?"

"Mr. Purple?" Cat asked, her mouth falling open while she looked at her purple giraffe in amazement. "You can talk!"

Beck cleared his throat. "Look up."

Cat laughed nervously when she saw Beck looking down at her knowingly. "Don't look! Mr. Purple is going to the bathroom and he's shy!"

"Uh huh," Beck said, pulling Cat up to her feet. "Why are you in the bushes?"

"Not spying on you that's for sure…"

Beck shook his head. "Did Jade send you out here?"

"Nope. I told you…Mr. Purple had to go potty. Jade did not promise me bibble if I came out here to spy on you."

Beck chose not to respond and guided Cat back inside, practically pushing the small girl into Jade when they got back to the table. "Look who I found in the bushes."

Jade choked on her coffee. "Ugh, throw her back."

"Hey!"

"I was talking to my mom," Beck told Jade simply.

"Good for you."

Cat shook her head. "Oy," she muttered into her hands. "I could be at home in my jammies watching _Finding Nemo_."

"Oh," Jade said flatly. "Excuse us for interrupting your action packed Sunday."

"You're the one who made me come!"

Beck laughed. Loudly. "I missed this."

"Us fighting?" Cat said. "Why?"

"I don't know," Beck shrugged. It was nice to see that despite being away for the past year things still seemed normal. Cat was still Jade's lackey. "It's familiar."

Cat beamed and clapped her hands. "Yay! Seeing you and Jade together is familiar, too! I like it."

Jade and Beck shared with faint smiles on both of their faces. "Yeah," Beck said, his eyes never leaving Jade's. "I could get used to this."

"Too bad you're only here for the summer," Jade snapped. It was like a switch had been turned on. Who did Beck think he was? She wasn't going to let him back in that easily. "Come on, Cat. Let's go."

"To Barney's Bibblery?"

"No, Cat. To narnia," Jade said in exasperation. She was definitely going to pawn Cat off on Tori when they got home.

"Phooey."

Beck stood up, knowing he had upset Jade. "Hey," he whispered, grabbing Jade's elbow to hold her back. "Cat, can you wait outside?"

"I should just move outside!" Cat complained but still heeded Beck's plea.

"What's wrong, Jade?"

Jade pulled her arm free. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Beck said. "I know you."

"You don't get to come back here and act like everything's still the same," Jade replied after several deep breaths. She could feel the tears stinging her eyes.

Beck didn't have the will to protest. "I'm sorry. I just meant it was going to be nice seeing you again."

"No you didn't," Jade sniffled, fiddling with the hem of her black tank top. "But if that's what you want to believe, okay then. I won't stop you."

"Jade-"

Jade shook her head and stepped back. "Welcome home," she whispered sincerely.

"Can we try and be friends?" Beck pleaded as Jade went to walk away. "Please?"

"Fine."

"Promise?" Beck said, holding out his hand for Jade. "Friends?"

Jade rolled her eyes but let a smile slip. "Friends. For now at least."


	3. You Say He's Just a Friend

**Woo, chapter 3! Sorry it took longer than I expected. I was hit with the pesky ol' writer's block. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

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"So how's the whole being friends with Beck going?"

Jade rolled her eyes at Tori's skeptical tone and watched as her roommate polished off the rest of her (lumpy) mashed potatoes. "Oh, what? You don't think Beck and I can be friends?"

"Nope," Tori answered immediately. She laughed and dumped her oversized bowl in the crowded sink. It was Cat's night to do the dishes and per usual, the little redhead was nowhere to be found.

"Cat thinks Beck and I can be friends!" Jade argued half-heartedly. She knew that wasn't going to change Tori's opinion.

Tori raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips in a supervisory manner. "Cat also thinks unicorns exist."

"Who asked you anyway," Jade mumbled with a slight pout.

It had been almost two weeks since she agreed to be "friends" with Beck. At first it was kind of hard. She had to remind herself when they went to the movies that they could not sit in the back and fool around the whole time. Or when they went to Nozu with the rest of their friends they couldn't tease each other under the table. But Jade was slowly starting to let her guard down. Beck had yet to make a move on her. There was a part of her that wanted him to just so she could shoot him down and make him feel the pain she felt after he left for New York.

"I believe you did," Tori gloated with a cheery grin. "Aw, what's the matter, Jade?" she patronized, leaning forward to pat Jade's head. "Cat got your tongue?"

Cat came skipping down the stairs in confusion. "I don't have anyone's tongue!" she screeched in defense. "Except for my own!"

"It's just an expression, Cat," Tori promised when she saw Cat still looked a little distressed. "Don't worry."

"Kay, kay!"

Jade sighed and reached for her luke warm coffee. She took a sip and noticed Cat staring at her in confusion. "Can I help you?"

"I have a question."

"Well I don't have an answer."

Cat feigned offense and sat down on the kitchen chair next to Jade. "How do you know if you're in love?"

Jade and Tori exchanged a nervous glance and looked at Cat quizzically. "What?"

"How do you know if you're in love?" Cat asked again innocently. She peered at both her friends pleadingly and swung her legs back and forth under the table.

"Uh," Tori began, trailing off when she realized she couldn't find the right words to explain to Cat. "You, uh, you just know…"

"_How_?" Cat whined impatiently. She turned to Jade and jutted out her bottom lip. Jade always fell for her pout. "Jade, you know!"

Jade shook her head. "I, I don't…"

"But you and Beck dated for like four years!" Cat continued to pout, hoping Jade would break soon. Sometimes she'd give in after thirty seconds and sometimes it would take longer. "You must know what it's like to be in love!"

Tori saw the apprehension in Jade's voice and took over. "Well, do you always think about Robbie?"

Cat knitted her eyebrows together. "Who said it's about Robbie?"

"You're not talking about Robbie?" Jade sat up straight in her chair, almost pleased.

Unfortunately, Cat broke into a loud giggle. "I'm just kidding! Of course it's about Robbie." Once she settled down, she nodded at Tori's question. "Sometimes I dream about Robbie a lot! And when I'm around him I feel like the happiest girl in the world! When he kisses me I get a funny feeling in my tummy…"

"It sounds like you're in love to me," Tori said with a smile, rubbing Cat's shoulder when the small girl squealed in excitement. "Right, Jade?"

"Right," Jade said sharply. She pushed Cat away when she went to give her a big bear hug. "Run along now."

Cat skipped up the stairs with a goofy smile, leaving her two roommates to sit in silence and ponder the situation.

"She's not in love," Jade finalized. "There's no way she can love that nerd."

Tori rolled her eyes. "It sounds like she's in love to me. That's how I felt when I first started dating Andre…"

The feeling was all too familiar for Jade. She remembered feeling the same exact way after her third date with Beck. He was all she thought about. She always vowed never to be one of those girls who got all mushy over a boy. But as much as she fought it, she definitely became one of those girls who got mushy all over a boy. Not just any boy though. Beck was not like the other boys she "dated" in middle school and the beginning of freshman year. He liked that she put up a fight and always had something to say. She could be herself around him.

"Yeah," Jade finally said after a pregnant pause. "That's how I felt with Beck, too."

Tori was going to offer Jade a sympathetic smile but she knew Jade wouldn't go for it. "I just hope Robbie's not trying to…pressure her into anything."

"He better not be. I'll cut off his manhood," Jade threatened seriously. "There's no way Cat can handle that right now. You don't know how many times she's slept in my room because you and Andre are making 'funny noises' late at night."

Tori choked on her saliva and tried to play it cool. "I, I have no idea what you're talking about.

"Give it up, Vega. You're a screamer."

"I am not!" Tori guffawed but soon nodded when Jade just stared at her. "Well it takes one to know one."

Jade held up her hands. "Touché."

"Besides," Tori continued, suddenly finding her ratty t-shirt very, very interesting. She twirled the hem around her fingers. "It's not my fault Andre's good in bed."

"I've heard enough," Jade said in disgust. She wasn't a prude or anything but discussing other peoples sex lives made her shiver.

"Jealous?"

"No!"

"I think you're just jealous because you're the single one," Tori said matter-of-factly. She followed Jade over to the couch and sat down next to her. "Ever since I've known you you've always had a boyfriend. For the first time, you're single and Cat and I have boyfriends."

"I don't see your point," Jade hissed in annoyance. She picked at her chipped nails and made a mental note to force Cat into doing her nails later if she was going to be home. "Even if I did, it'd be irrelevant. I'm perfectly fine being single."

"Okay," Tori scoffed. "When's the last time you've been on a date?"

"That's none of your business, Vega," Jade said hotly. "My dating life has taken a backseat because of my career. That's normal. "

"You're nineteen-years-old, Jade," Tori laughed. "You're not a forty-five year-old divorcee."

Jade rolled her eyes and turned on the TV. "I'm ignoring you now."

"Fine, fine," Tori gave in with a sigh. She patted Jade's knee and stood up. "I have to get ready for my date with Andre. Wanna come to Nozu with us?"

"Uh, no," Jade said in offense. "I'd rather slam my tongue in a car door than be the third wheel while you two make out over a sushi boat."

Tori put her hands on her hips and gasped. "That's not true! We never order a sushi boat…"

Jade waved Tori off with her hand and channel surfed for a few minutes. Per usual, there was nothing on. It was Tuesday night after all and most of her favorite shows were on hiatus. Just like Beck's. She began to wonder what he was up to. It had been a couple of days since they last talked.

Before she could grab her phone to text Beck, the doorbell rang three consecutive times. It was Robbie's signature gag. As much as it annoyed Jade, it also made her aware that it was Robbie at the door and she could ignore it and leave him outside until someone else opened the door.

That's exactly what she did when the bell rang six more times. Cat finally came down the stairs and looked at Jade. "Don't you hear the doorbell?"

Jade shook her head. "No," she said innocently. "What bell?"

"That bell!" Cat said brightly when it rang _again_. "Oh my god," she gasped. "Are you going deaf? One time, my brother lit a firework off his head and he couldn't hear for like three months." She opened the door and jumped into Robbie's arms with a high-pitched squeal. "Robbie!"

"Hey, Kitty Cat," Robbie greeted coolly, kissing Cat's forehead. He set her down near the couch and waved pitifully at Jade. "Jade."

"Whatever," Jade said dismissively. She frowned when Cat plopped down next to her, pulling at Robbie's hand until he sat. "Don't you two have a date?"

"Nah, we're just going to hang here," Robbie said, slinging his arms around Cat and holding her close.

"What's wrong with your place?"

"Rex is using it…"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Well I was here first. Go upstairs and don't bother me."

"You can hang out with us if you want!" Cat said nicely. "I mean it's not like you have anything else to do, right?"

"Oh, just because I don't have a boyfriend you think I don't have anything else to do?"

Cat started to shake her head. "No, no!"

"Because I do! I have a lot to do!" Jade stood up and continued on her little tirade. She grabbed her jacket and forced it over her shoulders. "I have tons of things to do tonight so don't bother waiting up!"

"Kay, kay," Cat called after Jade right before she slammed the front door.

Jade sighed and stomped to her car. She wasn't quite sure why she acted the way she did. It wouldn't be the end of the world if she hung out with Cat and Robbie. But that meant she'd have to watch them giggle under a blanket together and kiss each other awkwardly. It actually made her kind of sad watching the two interact. They were both so touchy feely with one another.

She hopped in her car and drove to Jet Brew, ordering her signature extra large coffee with only two sugars. Then, she found herself ordering another coffee; medium with light cream and one sugar. It was Beck's favorite.

When she showed up at his RV (which she couldn't believe he still had), she at least had the coffee as some sort of peace offering.

Jade rapped on the door lightly and took a step back, staring at the ground when Beck swung the rickety silver door open.

"Jade? Hey!"

"Hi," Jade drawled out with a small smile. She held up the coffee in her left hand and offered it to Beck. "They, uh, screwed up my order at Jet Brew and since Cat and Vega don't drink coffee…"

Beck took the cup and stole a sip. "Uh huh," he teased, stepping aside to let Jade in. "How convenient. It's exactly how I take my coffee."

"Yeah, it's a miracle," Jade deadpanned. She sat down on Beck's small couch and looked around the RV. It still looked the same as did it in high school. "Why are you still living here? Can't you afford to stay in a nice hotel?"

Beck shrugged and sat next to Jade. "I like it," he said simply. "So what brings you by? No swanky Hollywood parties for you to attend tonight?"

"Nah," Jade whispered. She traced the rim of her coffee cup. "Tori and Andre were going to Nozu and Cat and Robbie were being gross on the couch."

"I can't believe we live in a world where Robbie Shapiro has a girlfriend and I'm still single," Beck confessed lightly. He smiled when Jade laughed.

"Uh, I live in a world where little Cat Valentine has a boyfriend and I'm still single," Jade corrected, continuing to laugh along with Beck. "She told Vega and I she thinks she might be in love with Robbie."

Beck watched the worry lines appear on Jade's face. "I bet it's taking every fiber in your being not to punch Robbie's lights out, huh?"

Jade didn't answer. She took a large sip of coffee. "I just don't want him to hurt her. She's too fragile for heartbreak."

"I don't think he will," Beck whispered carefully. He knew how protective Jade was of Cat. He was the same way. But treading further into the conversation could open up a can of worms so he decided to change the subject. "I think _The Scissoring_ is on. Wanna watch?"

Jade eyed Beck with a smirk. "Is that even a question? Is it the uncut version?"

"No," Beck said, shaking his head while he turned on the TV. "The director's version."

"Even better!" Jade smiled, leaning back on the couch and settling in.

An hour into the movie Jade started to get antsy. As much she adored watching _The Scissoring_ she couldn't stop stealing glances at Beck. He still had yet to cut his hair and shave. It was becoming a distraction.

"You're not scared, are you?" Beck teased when he noticed Jade staring at him for the umpteenth time.

"No," Jade scoffed. "It's just nice to watch this movie without someone screaming their head off every three minutes."

"Cat?"

"And Vega. And Andre. And Shapiro. They're all so weak."

"It took me a few times to get used to all the gore," Beck admitted with a goofy grin. "I think I slept with the lights on the first time I watched it."

"If you were so scared the first time then why did you keep watching it?"

Beck cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders. "Because you liked it," he admitted softly. "And as sick and deranged as the movie is, it always made you smile. I liked seeing you happy."

Jade nudged Beck awkwardly and finished off the rest of his coffee. "I thought you liked your coffee black?" he asked in amusement.

"Watching coffee go to waste hurts my soul."

Beck playfully rolled his eyes and threw the empty cups out in the small wastebasket near the door. Just as he was about to sit back down next to Jade he felt the ground start to shake.

"Did you feel that?"

Jade looked at Beck oddly. "Feel what?"

The ground shook again. "That," Beck said quickly. "The ground shook."

"I didn't feel anything," Jade said forcefully. "I don't think-"

Jade was cut off by the RV starting to shake back and forth. She looked up at Beck and noticed the worry in his eyes. "Okay, I felt that."

"I think we're getting an earthquake…"

"Well aren't you a genius," Jade quipped sarcastically. She stood up and immediately fell into Beck when the RV shook violently.

Beck held Jade tightly and carefully guided her under the table. It was the only thing in his RV that could safely cover their heads. He just hoped it was going to be a small one. There was no way the RV could survive a big earthquake.

"Scared?" Jade said jokingly when she noticed Beck trembling.

"Nah," Beck said quickly. "We don't get earthquakes in New York. I guess I forgot the feeling…"

When the shaking began to increase, Beck tightened his arm that held Jade tightly around her waist. She was basically curled up in his lap. Both of their shoulders were hunched so they fit perfectly under the "kitchen" table. When things began to fall off the shelf, Beck instinctively held Jade tighter and brought her head down to rest on his chest so she was completely shielded. He didn't care if he got hurt. All that mattered was that Jade was okay.

"You alright?" Beck asked when he noticed Jade take a deep breath.

"Yeah," Jade replied, swallowing past the lump in her throat. She closed her eyes and tried so hard not to smile when Beck squeezed her. "Fine. You?"

Beck brought his chin down so it was resting on top of Jade's head. "Fine."

The whole earthquake only lasted a few minutes. Luckily it was a small one and the damage to Beck's RV was minimal. Nothing too valuable broke. But after fifteen minutes Beck and Jade were still huddled together under the table. They were both lost in the familiarity of being close. Jade didn't make an effort to break free so Beck saw no reason to let go. He reveled in the faint smell of her shampoo, the feeling of her slender fingers latched around his wrist.

It was like the past year never happened.

Jade cleared her throat upon finally realizing her position. "Uh," she began lightly, struggling to break free. "You can let me go, dude."

Beck played it off with a laugh and removed his arms from Jade's waist. She crawled out from under the table with a groan and struggled to get to her feet. Beck didn't exactly turn away when her shirt rode up her stomach when she finally found the strength to stretch her arms above her head.

"I should get home," Jade said after she noticed Beck staring. "Robbie and Cat are probably hiding under the bed." She joked. "And I want to make sure my priceless scissor collection wasn't damaged."

Beck chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe you should stay."

"W-what?"

"Stay," Beck repeated, this time a little shyly. "I mean just in case there's an aftershock. You don't want to get hurt. I don't think I could live with myself if something ever happened to you."

It took Jade a few minutes to give in. She quickly texted Cat and Tori to make sure they were okay. When she heard they were both fine, she threw her purse back on the ground and stared at Beck sharply. "No funny business, Oliver."

"I promise," Beck grinned, holding both his hands up. "You can sleep on the bed. I'll take the couch."

"Let's get back to the movie," Jade said, patting the spot next to her. "Hopefully we didn't miss my favorite part."

Jade's favorite part of the movie _always_ made Beck cringe. But when he saw the way her face lit up when she turned it on just in time he couldn't help but smile. She looked so happy. It had been a long time since Beck had seen Jade happy.

"Aren't the special effects amazing?" Jade commented without taking her eyes off the screen. She barely noticed Beck staring directly at her. "Beck?"

Beck shook his head to regain his thoughts. "Huh?"

"Aren't the special effects amazing?" Jade repeated as if she was talking to Cat.

"Yeah," Beck agreed quickly. "Really amazing."

When the movie finally ended, Jade suppressed a yawn but felt no shame in letting the next one out when Beck rubbed his eyes. "You can borrow some clothes if you want," he offered, standing to his feet.

Jade stood up. "It's been a few hours since the earthquake. I don't think there's going to be an aftershock."

Beck handed Jade one of his old plaid shirts and a pair of shorts. "So? It's late."

"I can drive in the dark."

"Just stay," Beck pleaded, forcing the clothes in Jade's hands. "Please?"

Jade sighed but complied. She quickly changed in a corner and threw her clothes down next to the bed. "I can sleep on the couch."

"Take the bed," Beck said softly. "You're the guest."

Jade crawled in bed and gingerly threw the covers over her body. When Beck turned out the light she buried her face into the pillow. What was she doing?

"Beck?"

It took Beck a few minutes to respond. "Jade?" he said sleepily.

"Goodnight…"

"Night."

Soon, Beck's soft snores floated through the RV. Jade wasn't used to the noise. It was all too familiar though. When they were dating his obnoxious snores always lulled her to sleep. But now they were just unearthing happy memories she kept hidden so she could pretend she was okay with being friends with her ex-boyfriend.

She spent most of the night tossing and turning. Maybe Tori was right. Maybe she couldn't be just friends with Beck.


	4. Loose Lips Sink Ships

**Hey, hey, hey! I'm just going to post this and run away from you all! No but seriously, as usual, thank you for all your positive feedback! I know it's kind of frustrating to see Beck and Jade dance around each other when they're clearly still into one another but if I just threw them together then I wouldn't really have a story! And before you read, just know I don't actually really ship Cat/Robbie for a number of reasons so don't burn me at the stake for their new developing plot line. I need it for the story!**

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Andre watched as Beck aimlessly pushed around his sushi with the electric blue chopsticks and rolled his eyes. "You gonna tell me about your night with Jade?"

"What night?" Beck asked coyly. He took a sip of water and tried to ignore Andre's unimpressed look. "The earth quaked and that's about it."

"Yeah but she spent the night."

"And?"

"And?" Andre scoffed. He threw his arms up in the air.

"How do you even know about this?"

"Girls talk."

Beck chuckled. "Jade told Tori?"

"Of course she did," Andre said like it was no big deal. He picked at the sushi boat in interest. Mrs. Lee insisted on giving them a _free _sushi boat as long as Beck promised to give Nozu a shout out the next time he was on TV.

"Nothing happened," Beck assured Andre confidently. "She slept on the bed and I slept on the couch. By the time I woke up she was gone."

Andre shook his head in disbelief. "You better watch yourself, man. There's no way you and Jade can just be friends. One of you is going to slip up and make a move."

"Well it won't be me," Beck said sharply. He stuffed another piece of sushi in his mouth and shrugged. "I already hurt Jade once. I won't do it again."

"What if she goes after you?"

"She won't."

"But what if she does?"

Beck threw his hands up in the air. "Can we just talk about something else?" he asked in frustration, using the chopstick in his right hand to stab a tuna roll.

"I guess," Andre mumbled. "Sorry, man."

"It's fine," Beck whispered, distracted by the raw fish in front of them. "How are you and Tori doing?"

Andre immediately smirked and rubbed his hands together. "Good," he beamed, clearly enamored by Tori Vega. "She's great."

"Good," Beck nodded in support. "What are you doing for your one year anniversary?"

"I don't know," Andre confessed frantically. "I don't know, man! Every time I think of something it sounds lame. What did you do for Jade?"

Beck scratched his head and laughed nervously. "I took her to the scissoring museum in San Diego."

"Oh."

"Then to the house where they filmed _The Scissoring_."

"Lame."

"After, we went to this Mexican restaurant, ate tacos, and uh…"

Andre smirked. "Sounds like a fun time."

"Yeah," Beck said faintly. He traced the rim of his water glass. "It was."

"But I don't think Tori likes _The Scissoring_," Andre complained. "Too much blood and guts for her. It's too much blood and guts for me."

"Jade likes blood and guts, man," Beck chuckled.

Andre winced. "That girl is weird. But in a hot way. You feel me?"

"You're a loser," Beck said in amusement. "You want the rest of the sushi?"

"Nah," Andre moaned, rubbing his stomach. "If I eat another piece of sushi I'll be throwing it all up on the way home."

"Maybe we can take it home for the girls then," Beck said. He signaled down their love struck waitress and politely asked for a couple of to go boxes. She immediately obliged and came back with not only their take out cartons, but also a bowl of miso soup. "Oh, I didn't order that…"

The waitress beamed. "It's from Mrs. Lee."

"I think Mrs. Lee like you," Andre commented dryly once they got everything packed up. He took the large bag filled with sushi and proceeded to stop short when he noticed Robbie nestled in a corner booth with a _very_ attractive brunette. He turned around and tapped Beck on the chest. "You see that?"

"See what?" Beck asked, looking all around. "Dude, stop tapping me!"

Andre tapped Beck one more time and pointed. "Robbie's over there in the corner with some hot chick!"

"Eh," Beck said when he finally spotted the pair. "She's not that hot."

"She's hot enough to be seen with Robbie," Andre pointed out.

Beck hummed in agreement. "What is she doing with Robbie?"

"She better not be doing what I think she might be doing."

"I don't think Robbie would cheat on Cat," Beck said calmly. "It took them so long to get together. Do you think he would really do that to her?"

"I don't know," Andre sighed. "Tori told me he's been blowing her off lately. Jade's just about ready to kill him."

"Jade didn't say anything about that the other night."

Andre shrugged and fiddled with the plastic bag. "Why would she?" When Beck looked at him in defeat, he sighed. "Sorry, man. It's not your fault you haven't really been around. You know how Jade is with Cat."

"I feel like I'm missing something," Beck admitted.

Andre motioned for him to follow as they stealthily snuck past Robbie and the brunette girl. "It's not really my place to tell you. Jade and Tori would kill me."

Beck spent most of the car ride in silence. He absently looked out the window and rolled his eyes at the copious billboards for _Twisted_ that were plastered all over the city. Andre thought it was pretty cool but Beck found it annoying. He was grateful for his success but deep down, he regretted leaving Jade and all of his friends behind. He never even invited them to come visit the set.

When they got back to Tori's house, Beck trailed languidly behind Andre. He suddenly felt like an outsider. So much went on when he was in New York.

"Beck scored some free miso soup. Who wants some?" Andre asked once they got inside. He greeted Tori with a kiss and nearly fell on top of her when Jade rushed over and grabbed the bag. "Okay, I guess Jade wants it."

Jade grinned at him and sat down on the couch. "Did you boys have fun on your date?"

"Mrs. Lee gave us a free sushi boat," Andre said giddily. "There was so much sushi!"

Tori looked at her boyfriend oddly. "How did you get a free sushi boat? Mrs. Lee never gives out free things! Remember that time when Robbie and I forgot-"

"Eat the sushi, baby," Andre said softly. He stuffed a piece of California roll in Tori's mouth and patted her back. Whenever somebody brought up Nozu, Tori took that as an opportunity to tell the story of the time she and Robbie were forced to chop seventeen pounds of squid for Mrs. Lee. "Want another one?"

Jade looked at Beck knowingly. "Did Mrs. Lee give you a free sushi boat if you promised to talk about her on your next interview?"

"Yeah," Beck chuckled. "How'd you know?"

"She thinks Mrs. Lee did the same thing to her," Tori said once she finished the third piece of sushi Andre gave her.

"She did!"

"No, Jade," Tori started slowly. "She gave you free sushi if you promised to _never_ come to Nozu covered in fake blood."

"I came straight from shooting," Jade said in offense. "I didn't have time to wash off all the fake blood."

"You slept in the fake blood for like three days," Tori deadpanned.

Jade laughed in satisfaction. "Yeah, I did. And scaring you and Cat in the middle of the night was the greatest thing ever."

Tori shuddered. She remembered that night so very clearly.

"Where's Little Red?" Andre asked curiously. He looked all around and couldn't find Cat anywhere.

"Upstairs pouting because Robbie cancelled on her again," Tori sighed.

"What? We saw Robbie at Nozu with-"

Jade stood up and Beck knew what was going to happen next. "Oh, you did, did you?"

"Andre," Tori hissed at her boyfriend. He had such a big mouth. "Jade," she began calmly, blocking Jade's path to the door. "Sit. Now."

It took Jade a few seconds to comply but she did. "Only because I want to," she grumbled.

Beck laughed. Since he wasn't privy to any of the real details of Cat and Robbie's relationship, he sat back and remained quiet.

"Maybe he had a meeting or something," Tori said. She was trying to stay calm for Jade's sake.

"In her pants?" Jade yelled, a little louder than expected.

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Beck cut in before Tori and Jade could start an argument.

Jade glared at Beck and shook her head. "No."

"Jade's just jumping to conclusions," Tori told Beck softly. However, the sad smile on her face told Beck that was a lie. "Just like last time."

Beck put two and two together and looked at Jade. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Tori said before Jade could. "Nothing happened. Jade was just in a really bad-"

"Vega!" Jade hissed, standing up to face her roommate. "Shut up!"

Andre pulled Tori up with him. "We gotta get to the studio, babe."

Tori nodded and reluctantly followed Andre out the door, leaving Beck and Jade alone in the living room. Jade paced angrily around the living room before she stomped over to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Jade?"

Jade didn't respond. She gulped down half the water bottle. "Can you go check on Cat?" I just remembered I have somewhere to be."

"Are you okay?" Beck asked in concern.

"Oh, I'm fine," Jade promised with a wide smile. "Robbie won't be though."

"Wait!" Beck called out after his ex-girlfriend. He held her wrist and gently pulled her back before she could get to the door. "What happened?"

Jade just shook her head. "Let's just say Robbie isn't as innocent as he seems."

Beck sighed at Jade's vagueness. "Did, did he cheat on Cat?"

"He claims he didn't," Jade mumbled, her eyes looking downwards. "But no one really believed me. They just thought I was jealous because you know…I was still moping around."

"Oh." Beck swallowed past the lump in his throat. "What did Cat do about it?"

"She doesn't know," Jade whispered. "Robbie promised me nothing would ever happen again and Tori made me keep it a secret."

Beck pulled Jade in for a hug but winced when she rejected it. It was clear she was trying to keep herself composed. "Don't," she warned lowly, biting her lip so she'd be in control of her emotions. "I'll be back."

Beck didn't even bother to stop Jade. He climbed up the stairs one by one and looked all around for Cat's room. It occurred to him he hadn't really spent enough time with Cat since he was back. Jade and Andre usually monopolized his time.

He sighed when he saw Cat curled up in her bed with Mr. Purple, watching a sad movie on the small TV resting on her dresser. "Cat?"

"Beck?" Cat questioned in a small voice. "Hi!"

"Hey," Beck said with a smile, inviting himself into the room. "What are you doing?"

Cat sat up and patted the spot next to her. "Watching _Titanic_."

"Why? It's sad and depressing."

"Cause I'm sad," Cat said in a quiet voice. She held Mr. Purple tighter and refused to meet Beck's gaze. "Where's Tori and Jade?"

"They all left," Beck said. "You want some sushi?"

Cat smiled. "Yeah!"

After they finished the rest of the sushi, Cat dragged Beck back up the stairs and put on something lighthearted.

"Beck?" she asked her friend shyly. "Can we snuggle? I'm still sad."

Beck nodded with a sad smile and wrapped his arm around Cat's small body when she curled into his side. "Why are you sad?"

"Robbie made me sad," Cat replied with a sniffle.

"How come?"

Cat shrugged. "The other night during the earthquake I told him I loved him," she started in a small voice. "But he, he kind of just freaked out and left. Now he won't answer my calls and he keeps blowing me off! What did I do wrong?"

Beck rubbed Cat's back when he heard her small cries. "Nothing," he promised. "You did nothing wrong, Cat. Maybe he's just scared."

"Maybe," Cat agreed in a whimper. "Please don't tell Tori and Jadey though."

"You didn't tell them?"

Cat sat up and dropped her head on Beck's shoulder. "No. They'll just want to hurt Robbie."

_Too late for that_ Beck thought. He ruffled Cat's hair and flicked through the channels. "Hey, look. _That's a Drag_ is on!"

Cat immediately brightened and squealed. "Yay! I love this show."

Beck continued to hold Cat while she giggled happily beside him. He stroked her ponytail and even held Mr. Longneck when Cat claimed he was getting jealous.

"Beck?" Cat said meekly when the show ended. "Thank you."

Beck looked down at Cat in confusion. "For what?"

Cat just gave Beck a big, dimply smile. "Because you haven't changed," she whispered, fiddling with Mr. Purple's tail. "Even though you're a big time actor now you're still the same guy who saved me when I got stuck in the toilet in the second grade."

"I forgot all about that," Beck chuckled, squeezing Cat into his side.

It didn't take long for Cat to drift off. Beck carefully laid her back down on the bed and pulled the blankets over her small body. By the sound of the front door slamming shut downstairs, Jade was home.

But she wasn't alone.

"Why can't you just mind your business, Jade?"

"You dating my best friend is MY business."

Beck shut Cat's door behind him and descended down the stairs to see Jade and Robbie glaring at one another. They barely noticed him in the room. The pair continued their less than quiet argument until he cleared his throat.

Jade whipped around and sighed when she saw Beck. "You're still here?"

"Yeah…"

"She'll probably want you to leave soon, too," Robbie spat. It seemed so out of character for him. "Better watch out, Beck."

"Cat's sleeping up stairs," Beck told Robbie sharply. "Stop yelling."

"How do you know my girlfriend's sleeping?"

"Because I was just with her," Beck said matter-of-factly. "While she cried about you ignoring her."

Jade crossed her arms and glared at Robbie's quivering form. "See what you did."

Robbie started to open his mouth but failed to come up with a valid rebuttal. "I didn't do anything," he argued weakly. "You don't understand."

"I do understand," Jade corrected hotly. She could feel Beck getting closer and closer. It made her tense up. "Why were you with that girl at Nozu?"

"It's none of your business! She's just a friend."

"So why did you blow off Cat then if she's just a friend?"

"Shut up, Jade," Robbie finally snapped. He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and paced in a circle. "Just shut up."

Beck took that as his cue to step in. "Don't talk to her like that."

"I don't need you to defend me!" Jade suddenly yelled. She spun around to face Beck and looked at him in disbelief.

Beck held up his hands. "I, I was just trying to-"

"Oh, here we go," Robbie groaned.

"Be quiet, Shapiro," Jade seethed. "I swear if you did anything with that tramp I'll make you regret it."

Robbie just laughed and shook his head. "Maybe if you had a boyfriend you wouldn't be so hung up on my relationship," he said simply. When Jade fell silent, he kept going. "Or maybe if you weren't still so in love with Beck you'd actually have some sort of life. He doesn't want you, Jade. Why do you think he left for New York in the first place?"

Jade took a step forward but Beck stopped her. He got in Robbie's face. Never in his life had he yelled at Robbie Shapiro. That was all about to change. "Who do you think you are? You have no right to talk to her like that."

"I-"

"Get out," Beck demanded, pointing to the door. When Robbie didn't budge, Beck ushered him over to the front door and pulled it open. "Next time, I won't be so nice," he promised, shoving Robbie outside and slamming the door in his face.

When he slowly turned around to face Jade he saw the tears in her eyes. It killed him to see her so hurt and vulnerable. "Jade-"

"Leave," she whimpered, doing her very best to stay strong. "Go. Now."

"Don't worry about what Robbie said, okay?" Beck said. He took small steps over to Jade, despite her disapproval. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

Jade took a large step back when Beck was too close for comfort. "Are you deaf? Please leave. I, I want to be alone."

"Come on, Jade. Don't do this."

"If you're not going to leave then I will," Jade finally yelled. She stormed over to the door but let out a small cry when Beck grabbed her hand. "Beck, please."

Beck didn't say anything. He pulled Jade close and was surprised when she latched on for dear life. She sobbed quietly into his chest and let everything out.

"It's okay," he soothed quietly, rocking Jade back and forth.

Jade pulled back and shook her head. "It's not okay," she hissed, frantically wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. "It will never be okay."

"We're friends, Jade," Beck reminded her softly. "You can tell me anything."

"We're not friends, Beck," Jade finally said after a pause. "We're just pretending."

Beck tried to argue but Jade wouldn't let him. "Just go."

This time, Beck didn't fight. He nodded and slipped out the door, making an effort to slam it shut behind him. Jade winced and dragged herself up the stairs. She waited until she was under her covers to let out the second set of sobs rising in her throat.

Everything hurt. It hurt too much to be around him.

"Jade?" Cat's small voice floated through the room. "Jade, what's wrong?"

Jade closed her eyes at the fear and concern laced in Cat's tone. "Nothing," she cried out, trying to conceal her tears. "I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine," Cat corrected in a shy voice. She tiptoed over to the bed and pulled the covers down. "Why are you crying?"

Jade rolled over so her back was facing Cat. "I just want to be alone."

"No!" Cat cried frantically. It was reminding her way too much of last summer. Jade was exactly like this for over a month. "Please don't cry, Jadey."

No matter how hard she tried to control her tears, it wasn't working. It also didn't help that Cat hugged her tightly.

"I'm here, Jade," Cat promised in a small voice. She cuddled next to Jade and draped an arm around her waist. "So is Mr. Purple. We'll stay with you."

Jade let out a small laugh and held Cat's hand. "Thank you, baby girl."

"Did, did Beck make you cry?"

"Don't worry about it, okay?" Jade said.

"Kay," Cat whispered sadly. She ran her fingers through Jade's hair until the older girl fell asleep. Her sobs eventually died down but her face was bright red and blotchy.

Cat sighed and held Jade even tighter. She reached beside Jade's pillow and grabbed her friend's PearPhone when it dinged. There was a text from Beck.

_Of course I still want you_.

Cat gasped and stared down at Jade sadly. Her gaze flickered between her best friend's devastated face and Beck's confessional text message. She didn't want Jade to turn back into the person she used to be. Jade had spent so much time getting over Beck that she didn't want him to ruin it. So she did the only thing she could think of.

She deleted the message.


	5. I See Truth Somewhere In Your Eyes

**Ah, sorry for the wait. I had writer's block, but holy crap! Thank you for all of the reviews. I should end with cliffhangers more often!**

* * *

Jade wasn't exactly a drinker, but it was just one of those days where she really needed a drink. Not only was Cat following her around the house like puppy dog, Tori was also on her case. Cat had immediately told her it was Beck that made her cry and Tori took on the role as the concerned friend and demanded to know what happened. When Jade remained mum about the situation, Tori backed off.

But Jade knew she hadn't escaped.

She traced the rim of her wine glass and settled further into the Jacuzzi, sighing contently as the jets ricocheted off her body.

"_I don't think we're allowed to be in here, babe," Beck whispered suspiciously. He watched his girlfriend undress and lower herself into the Vega's Jacuzzi._

"_Relax," Jade simply replied. "They're in San Diego for the weekend. No one will ever know. And I double checked to make sure Sinjin and Robbie weren't lingering around on the porch."_

_Beck chuckled but remained in his clothes. "But I didn't bring my bathing suit."_

"_So?" Jade shrugged her shoulder. "Go in naked."_

"_Oh." _

_Jade wiggled her eyebrows but soon frowned when Beck kept his boxers on. He slid in next to her and grinned. "This is nice."_

"_Mmhm," Jade hummed in agreement. She scooted closer next to her boyfriend and relaxed when he put his arm around her. _

"_Can you believe we're graduating in a week?"_

"_Ugh, don't mention graduation," Jade groaned. She felt Beck's hand grab her own under the water. It made her smile. "Cat automatically bursts into tears whenever somebody brings it up."_

_Beck shook his head in amusement. "Sounds about right."_

"_Did you hear back about your audition yet?"_

"_Nah," Beck whispered. "I probably didn't get it."_

_Jade kissed Beck's cheek. "I bet you did."_

"_You think?" Beck grinned. He shivered when Jade nodded and straddled his waist. He placed his hands on her hips and kissed her lips. "What makes you so sure?"_

"_I have a feeling," Jade said vaguely. She left a trail of hot kisses down Beck's neck, wiggling around in his lap a bit until he let out a grunt. _

"_Okay, babe, now I know we shouldn't be doing this," Beck laughed uneasily. He tried to break free but found his attempts futile. Jade's hands were already down his boxers. "Jade…"_

"Jade?"

Jade forced her eyes open at the sound of Tori's voice. She rolled her eyes when she saw her roommate practically skipping towards her clad in a bright blue bikini.

"Can I join you?"

"What if I said no?"

"Too bad," Tori said matter-of-factly. She eased herself into the hot tub and sat across from Jade. "Ah, this feels good."

Jade finished the rest of her wine. "I wanted to be alone."

"Too bad," Tori repeated.

"It's bad enough I've got Cat following me around like an annoying puppy," Jade complained. She poured herself another glass of wine and reluctantly offered one to Tori. "I don't need you checking up on me."

"I'm not," Tori said coyly. She took a sip of wine and shrugged. "But I did hide Cat's bikini bottoms under her bed so you have a good five or ten minutes to tell me what happened the other night. If you want."

Jade smirked at Tori's devious behavior. But it soon faded when Tori looked at her expectantly. "Nothing happened," she lied. "I'm fine."

"Mmhm," Tori hummed in disagreement. "Cat said Beck made you cry."

"No," Jade corrected softly. She focused her attention on swirling around the liquid in her expensive glass and sighed. "Cat _thinks_ Beck made me cry."

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Okay," she began in slight confusion. "So why does Cat think Beck made you cry?"

"Because I let her think he did," Jade replied as if it were obvious. "Look, Vega, it's over and done with. It's not Beck's fault."

"Then whose fault is it?" Tori continued to pry.

Jade knew there was no way she could escape this conversation. Tori inherited her father's excellent interrogating skills and Jade somehow always cracked within minutes. As much as she could ignore and avoid Tori, she'd eventually find out. She was good like that.

"Robbie's."

Tori tilted her head to the side. "Robbie's?"

"Yes," Jade groaned. Was she not being clear? "He…upset me."

Tori bit her lip to try and control her laughter. "Robbie Shapiro made _you _cry?"

Jade stood up in annoyance. She climbed out of the hot tub and reached for the towel resting on the patio chair. Tori looked apologetic. "Jade, I'm sorry," she said softly, clearing her throat. "Come back."

"Fine," Jade agreed pretty quickly. She resumed her previous position and looked at Tori rather sadly. "He just, he just said some nasty things."

For days Robbie's words replayed in her head over and over again.

"_He doesn't want you_."

She heard it in her sleep, in the shower, during the commercials when she forced herself to watch Cat's lame cartoons so the redhead would stop whining. It was beginning to haunt her. And not in the good way. It didn't help that Beck seemed to disappear. He wasn't sending her goofy texts to wish her a good morning. He wasn't sending any more flirty texts. But Jade didn't blame him. She did say they really couldn't be friends.

"I'm sorry," Tori said, finally breaking the silence.

"Whatever," Jade mumbled. She took a large gulp of wine and tried not to frown when the sliding glass door opened and Cat came skipping out in her obnoxiously neon pink bathing suit.

"I found my bottoms," Cat giggled, skipping over to the hot tub. "They were under my bed. I wonder how they got there?"

Tori feigned innocence. "I wonder."

Cat just continued to giggle and tipped her feet in. "It's too hot," she pouted. "I don't like it."

"So don't come in then," Jade said in irritation. All her pent up frustration was starting to overflow. It certainly wasn't Cat's fault that Robbie said those things he said. But she couldn't curb her annoyance now. Cat was constantly in her face.

"But I wanna hang out with you guys!"

Cat eventually sucked in her bottom lip and slowly eased herself into the hot tub. She sat near Tori, knowing Jade wanted some space. "One time, my brother snuck in my neighbor's hot tub and interrupted his "special time" with his wife."

Jade groaned and finished the rest of her glass. She reached for the wine bottle and filled it up to the brim. "Want some, Cat?"

Cat looked at the fancy bottle in fascination. But when she realized what it was, she shook her head. "No thanks," she said politely. "That's no-no juice."

Tori laughed and stretched out her glass. "Fill me up."

"I'm not your maid, Vega." Despite her disdain, Jade filled Tori's glass up and carefully tossed the empty bottle on the grass.

Cat watched her two friends get progressively tipsier as the night went on. They both had about four of five glasses each. Jade's cheeks were bright red and she was giggling uncontrollably. Tori, however, was quite the opposite. She was falling asleep. It took all of Cat's strength to pull her out of the hot tub and upstairs to bed.

Jade was able to take care of herself. She promised Cat she'd go right to bed (through fits of giggles of course) and plopped down in the middle of her bed. She scrolled through her phone and found herself scrolling through her text conversation with Beck. The thread was so long, filled with flirty and sincere messages.

"_He doesn't want you_."

No. Jade closed her eyes and reached for a black tank top and a pair of shorts to throw on over her bikini.

Beck couldn't ignore her if she showed up at his RV, right?

Luckily Beck only lived a few blocks away. She clumsily stumbled through the quiet neighborhood and used the flashlight app on her phone to help guide her there safely. When she reached Beck's RV, a wave of nausea ripped through her stomach but she ignored it.

"Beck!" She yelled obnoxiously, banging on the door repeatedly. The lights weren't on but she kept knocking. "Beckett James Oliver!"

She glanced at her phone and saw it was almost one o'clock in the morning. However, she continued to pound on the door. The incessant noise was beginning to wake up the people who lived in Beck's neighborhood. Dogs began to bark and lights in various rooms of different houses began to flicker on as they nosily tried to figure out who was making such a racket.

"Beck!" Jade continued to say. Her eyes were starting to grow heavy and she was coming down from her buzz. "I know you're in there."

It took a few minutes, but a dim light in Beck's RV turned on. He answered the door in just a pair of plaid boxers.

"Aha! I knew you were in there."

Beck rubbed his tired eyes and patted down his rumpled hair. "Jade?" he asked through a yawn. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know," Jade answered honestly. "I was in the neighborhood."

"Are you drunk?"

Jade scoffed in amusement. "Duh."

Normally Beck would laugh. Jade was always a fun drunk. But since the past few days had been a bit awkward and he had yet to hear from Jade about his revelation, he stepped aside and pulled on a shirt. Jade invited herself in and stumbled over toward the couch.

"Vega and I had wine."

"Oh." Beck nodded. He crossed his arms and lent against the wall. "So why are you here?"

Jade winced at the slight edge in Beck's tone. She suddenly found her kneecap interesting and shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know," she finally said. The honesty in her voice was evident. "I haven't heard from you since, uh, since the other night."

"I haven't heard from you either," Beck countered.

"You're killing my buzz, dude," Jade huffed. She stood up and suddenly felt dizzy, holding on to the arm of the couch to steady herself. "I'm going home."

"You can't go home," Beck argued as nicely as possible. "At least not by yourself. Let me drive you home."

"No," Jade retorted. "I can walk home."

Beck shook his head and blocked the doorway. "I'm not letting you leave. Not when you're still this drunk."

"I'm fine," Jade protested weakly. "I walked here, didn't I?"

"You shouldn't have even done that."

"You're not my boyfriend anymore!" Jade suddenly snapped. She let out a frustrated groan and tugged at her hair. "You can't tell me what to do."

Beck knew Jade was right. But there was still no way he could let Jade walk out the door and stumble her way home. "I know."

"So let me go!" Jade snapped. "You don't get to do this."

"You're right," Beck conceded, he stepped aside and motioned for Jade to leave. "Go."

Jade swallowed past the lump in her throat. She watched Beck open the door. "Beck-"

"Go," Beck repeated hotly. "You wanted to go. So go. Now."

"Jade! Jade! Are you here?"

Jade closed her eyes and cursed under her breath. "Dammit," she mumbled, stepping back in hopes Cat would not see her.

Beck looked out the RV door and saw Cat peering around his parent's house nervously. She was dressed in her matching cupcake pajamas and had Mr. Purple tucked under her arm.

"Cat," Beck admonished once he stepped outside to retrieve Cat. "You shouldn't be out here this late!"

Cat turned around and stared at Beck. "Did Jade come here?"

"Yeah, she's inside."

Cat didn't say anything. She pushed past Beck and ran into the RV, looking at her friend in fright. "Jade! You told me you were going to bed."

Jade rolled her eyes and refused Cat's hug. "Why are you here?"

"Why are _you_ here?" Cat countered angrily.

"She was just going home," Beck cut in from behind Cat. He looked at the redhead in confusion when she whipped around and glared at him.

"No, I'm mad at you!" Cat immediately yelled. "She shouldn't be here!"

"What did I do?"

Jade's eyes widened and she clamped her hand over Cat's mouth. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Cat was desperately trying to break free from Jade's iron clad grip.

"No," Beck said sharply. "What does she mean?"

Cat eventually broke free and stared Beck down. "You made her cry!"

"Cat!" Jade hissed. But it was too late.

"What are you talking about?" Beck asked in utter confusion. His voice was soft, clearly full of regret. "Jade?"

"It's just a misunderstanding," Jade whispered weakly. "Cat, go wait outside."

Cat shook her head defiantly. "No," she squeaked. "The other night after you left Jade was crying in her room! She said you made her cry."

"I didn't say that!" Jade yelled at her best friend. It made Cat cower in the corner.

Beck scratched the back of his neck and looked at the two girls awkwardly. He rocked on the balls of his feet anxiously. "Cat, can you go wait outside? I need to talk to Jade."

Still, Cat remained grounded. "No! You already hurt Jade once, I'm not letting you do it again!"

"So you told her I was the one who made you cry?" Beck finally asked, suddenly not caring that Cat was in the room.

Jade shook her head frantically. "No! She, she just thinks you did."

"But, but you told me Beck made you cry," Cat argued with a wobbly lip.

"No, Cat. You asked if Beck made me cry and when I told you not to worry about it you just assumed it was him."

"Why didn't you tell her it was Robbie then?" Beck hissed.

Jade slammed her eyes shut when Cat gasped. "W-what?"

"Your boyfriend made her cry," Beck pointed out loudly. "It wasn't me!"

Cat clapped her hands over her ears. "Don't yell at me!"

Beck took a few deep breaths and reached over to hug Cat. Jade collapsed on the couch and put her head in her hands.

"Robbie would never make Jade cry!"

Jade bit her lip to stop herself from exploding.

"I bet Jade made Robbie cry!"

"Cat, that's not fair," Beck told the redhead gently. "Jade didn't do anything."

"Jade doesn't like that I'm with Robbie," Cat whimpered, burying her face into Mr. Purple. "She's, she's just jealous!"

"Excuse me?" Jade stood up and looked ready to pounce on her best friend.

Beck stepped in and blocked Jade from advancing towards Cat. "Don't," he said just for her to hear.

Jade's eyes filled with tears. Her head was spinning and everything seemed to come crashing down. She fell back on the couch and concentrated on the floor so that Cat wouldn't see her crying.

"I'll take you home," Beck said to Cat. He left no room for her to protest and dragged the small girl out of the RV without another word.

Jade took the opportunity to let out the sob she had let fester in her throat. It was louder than she expected. She wasn't jealous of Robbie and Cat. She wasn't jealous of Andre and Tori.

She was just…lonely.

Beck returned pretty quickly. He stared at Jade sympathetically and offered her a bottle of water from the small fridge. "No thanks," she said politely.

"Do you want to stay?"

"Yeah," Jade said shakily. She stood up and looked at Beck thankfully. "I'm sorry for just barging over here."

"It's fine," Beck said dismissively. He pulled down the covers on his bed and gestured for Jade to crawl in. "I'll take the couch again."

Jade slipped under the covers and grabbed hold of Beck's arm when he went to turn away. "Stay with me," she pleaded quietly. "Please."

Beck was reluctant. "Jade-"

"Just lay with me," Jade tried again, closing her eyes.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Beck pointed out.

"_He doesn't want you, Jade. Why do you think he left for New York in the first place?"_

"Whatever." Jade rolled over and let Beck's arm go. She pulled the covers over her head and refused to even look at Beck.

Beck sighed and turned off the light. He desperately tried to find a comfortable position but the couch wasn't exactly a plush mattress.

"Jade?"

Nothing.

"Jade," he repeated, this time a bit loudly. "You're the one who ignored my message."

He heard the sheets ruffle. Jade sat up in bed. "What message?"

"Don't pretend like you didn't get it," Beck said in annoyance.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jade snapped in defense.

"It's fine," Beck whispered. "Goodnight."

Jade didn't respond. She waited until she heard Beck's soft snoring and climbed out of the bed. Finding Beck's phone on the small table near the door, she snatched it and crawled back under the covers. She scrolled through his texts until she found her name.

There it was.

_Of course I still want you_.

It said it was received two days ago. Jade bit her lip and reached for her phone. The last text message she had from Beck certainly did not say that.

She placed Beck's phone back on the table and stood in the middle of the RV. She had no idea what to do. Leaving seemed like a good option. Pretending like she never saw the text seemed even better.

"Beck?" she said, her bottom lip quivering violently. "Beck!"

Beck's snores continued to permeate through the small RV. Jade took a few small steps toward his sleeping figure. She shook him. "Beck."

It took a few more minutes of shaking but Beck finally awoke. "What?" he said, his voice laced with sleep in confusion. "Jade?"

Jade didn't say anything. She knelt down beside her ex-boyfriend and hugged him tightly, dropping her head on his bare chest.

"Are you okay?" Beck asked in concern. He patted Jade's back when he felt her grip tighten around his torso.

"Please lay with me."

Beck sighed and draped an arm over his face. "Okay," he relented.

He allowed Jade to drag him over to the bed. She climbed in first and he followed suit. "Can I go back to sleep?"

Jade smiled at Beck's soft voice right next to her ears. "Yeah," she laughed. Before she drifted off, she pulled Beck's arm around her waist and held it there securely. Beck didn't bother fighting back this time. He inched closer and closer until he was pressed right up against Jade's back.

"Night, Jade."

Jade rolled over so that she was now facing Beck. She could barely make him out in the darkness but he was staring at her as well. Their lips were inches apart.

Beck felt Jade's breath on his neck. But instead of leaning down and kissing her like he so desperately wanted to, he gently palmed the back of her head and made it so Jade's forehead was resting on his chest.

"Goodnight, Beck," Jade finally said. Her fingers were absently tracing circles around Beck's back. She closed her eyes when Beck kissed her forehead. She waited and waited for his lips to meet hers.

When they didn't, she sighed and forced her eyes closed. She wanted Beck. Beck wanted her. But now it was up to her to make the first move.

* * *

**SO CLOSE YET SO FAR! **

**But now Jade knows Beck wants her...dun, dun, dun. **


	6. Drop A Heart, Break A Name

Jade had no idea what time it was when she woke up the next morning.

The tinted (and bullet proof) windows were now gone and could no longer stop the sunlight from streaming in. The bright light jarred Jade awake and she rolled over with a groan. It took her a few moments to open her eyes, but when she did, the other half of the bed was empty.

Beck was nowhere to be found.

If he left, he didn't exactly owe her an explanation. They were just two friends spending the night together. It wasn't the morning after a hook up. Though Jade's attempts failed miserably. Halfway through the night she felt Beck roll over and inch closer to the edge of the bed. He was afraid to touch her.

She pulled herself out of the bed and stretched, looking all around the RV. In front of the small coffee pot was a note on a yellow post-it.

_Got called into a meeting. Be back by ten with coffee._

Jade glanced at the clock; it was almost ten now. She made herself at home and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until she found an old re-run of _That's a Drag_. She thought about Cat and sighed. The redhead would probably apologize right away for the things she said. That was the thing about Cat. She _always_ apologized first. She couldn't stand people being mad at her.

Halfway through the episode, Beck returned with two large Jet Brew coffees in each hand like he promised.

"I didn't think you'd still be here," he admitted.

Jade took the coffee from Beck and shrugged. "You promised me coffee. Here I am."

Beck chuckled and sat down next to Jade on the couch. He smiled when she took a sip of coffee and groaned. "What?"

"This has cream in it," Jade complained. She switched her coffee with Beck and cautiously took a small sip. "Ah, this is better."

"There's nothing wrong with having cream in coffee," Beck argued lightly.

"Yes there is," Jade scoffed. She watched intently while Beck focused on his coffee, his eyebrows knitting together in worry as he traced the plastic lid. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Beck snapped out of his reverie. He looked at Jade apologetically, knowing this was going to break her heart. "I saw Robbie at Jet Brew."

"Oh."

"And he wasn't alone."

Jade's grip on the coffee cup was getting tighter. "Oh."

Beck grabbed his phone from his jacket pocket and pulled up a few pictures he sneakily took. It had to end. It wasn't fair to Cat. "They were kissing."

Jade almost refused to look. But as Beck scrolled through at least six different pictures of Robbie and the same brunette in Nozu, her blood began to boil. Now she had solid proof to tell Cat her boyfriend was cheating on her. Tori wasn't going to be able to talk her out of this.

"I have to tell her," Jade finally said.

Beck caught the waver in her voice and patted her shoulder. "Want me to come?"

"Please." Jade stood up and Beck followed, placing his palm on the small of her back and gently guiding her out of the RV like he used to do all the time when they were dating. The familiarity was comforting and calming.

The ride to Tori's house was quiet. Beck didn't bother making small talk. He let Jade stare out the window and hold her coffee cup in a death grip. He assumed she was pretending it was Robbie's neck. Hurting Cat was akin to hurting a puppy. She was just so innocent and nice. Maybe that was the problem.

Beck sighed and looked at Jade again. She looked worried. He reached over and rested his hand on her knee. Just when he was about to pull it back, Jade grabbed it and held it tightly. He could tell she needed the comfort.

"I just don't understand," Jade said quietly. She absently dragged her thumb across Beck's knuckles. "What was so wrong that Robbie had to go and cheat on Cat?"

"I don't know," answered Beck honestly. "I really don't know." Had he been there when Robbie and Cat first started dating, he absolutely would have given Robbie a stern talking to. Jade probably did, but Robbie was used to Jade's threats. Beck never once threatened Robbie. He would have taken it seriously. Perhaps this whole thing could have been prevented.

Beck parked his truck behind Tori's sleek sports car and killed the engine. Jade was delaying going in. He didn't blame her. Everyone at Hollywood Arts knew how close Jade and Cat were. Though Jade didn't show it as much in public, she loved Cat like a little sister. Everyone in the group did. It would hurt them as much as it would hurt Cat.

Jade abruptly opened the door and practically stormed inside. Beck was quick to catch up in case Robbie decided to swing by the house. Jade would indeed pounce on him and cause a ruckus.

Tori was downing two Advil with a glass of water when Jade came rushing in with Beck right behind her. The singer winced when the door slammed shut. "Dude," she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "No loud noises."

"Hungover?" Jade teased.

"Ugh," Tori answered petulantly. She acknowledged Beck with a nod. "Did you two spend the night together again?"

Jade crossed her arms and grabbed Beck's phone out of his back pocket. She found the photos of Robbie and slid the PearPhone across the island. "Now do you believe me?"

It took Tori a minute or two to respond. She studied each photo with a frown and finally placed the phone down. "I thought…"

"You thought he was innocent," Jade snapped.

Tori nodded shyly. "What are we supposed to tell her?"

"I don't know," Jade admitted softly. She held the phone in her hand. "I guess I'll just show her the pictures."

Beck rubbed Jade's back comfortingly but stopped when Tori looked at him. He stared at the floor and peered around the room. "Where is Cat?"

"She's outside on the patio."

Cat was happily coloring what Jade assumed to be an apology picture outside. Tori's phone rang rather obnoxiously. She cursed under her breath before launching into a rather hushed conversation on the phone.

"That was Andre," Tori began slowly. "He, uh, needs me to pick him up at the studio."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"I'll be back in ten minutes. Promise." Tori called over her shoulder before disappearing out the door.

"I can tell her if you want," Beck said to Jade.

"No." Jade shook her head and began to wring her hands together. The fear was rising in her stomach. This was going to break Cat in half. "I'll do it. Just, just come out in like five minutes?"

Beck nodded and pulled Jade in for a hug. He couldn't help but smile when she held on tight and buried her face into the nape of his neck. "It'll be okay."

Jade wanted to believe that so she nodded and gently detached herself from Beck. She made her way to the patio and quietly opened the door. Cat's head immediately turned around when the old glass doors squeaked.

"Hi," Cat said shyly. She placed the red crayon down on her completed picture and looked down at the floor.

"Hey," Jade greeted just as shyly. She took a seat across from Cat and peered at the red duck on the table. "You know I hate ducks."

Cat giggled and pushed the picture towards Jade. "That's why I colored it red! It's, it's a…bloody duck."

"Cool." Jade's eyes lit up. She laughed at the disturbance in Cat's tiny voice.

"I'm, I'm sorry," Cat continued quietly. "For what I said."

Jade nodded. "It's okay."

"I just, I just didn't want you to be sad again. I don't like when you're sad."

"I know, baby girl," Jade whispered. She leaned forward and hugged Cat.

Cat smiled against Jade's shoulder. "So you're not mad?"

"No," Jade replied quickly. She let go of Cat and placed Beck's phone on the table, spinning it around to delay the conversation. "Hey, have you talked to Robbie?"

"No," Cat said, her eyes widening. "He's really busy."

Jade bit her lip and took hold of Cat's hand. "I have to tell you something. About Robbie."

"Oh my god!" Cat began to panic immediately. "Is he okay? Does he need a kidney?"

"Cat, Cat, Cat," Jade said frantically, placing her hands on Cat's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. "Robbie's fine."

"Phew!" Cat breathed a sigh of relief. "Then what's wrong?"

Jade was never one to beat around the bush but this was Cat. Sweet, innocent, little Cat who never harmed anything. She loved everything and everyone. She didn't deserve to have her heart ripped out and stomped on. It was always hard watching Cat cry when something was serious.

"Robbie's cheating on you," Jade finally spit out.

Per usual, it took Cat a minute to get it. She tilted her head to the side. "Huh?" When Jade repeated herself, she started to tear up. "No! Y-you're lying!"

"I wish I was," Jade whispered. "I wish I was lying. But I'm not."

"You are!" Cat screamed. She was getting hysterical. "I love him and he loves me! Robbie would never hurt me!"

Jade didn't say anything. She showed Cat the pictures on Beck's phone and watched her best friend's little face break out in horror. "Beck saw them at Jet Brew this morning."

"No, no," Cat cried. "Robbie told me he was visiting his Mawmaw!"

"I'm so sorry, baby girl," Jade said. She scooted closer to Cat and began to stroke her hair. The tears were coming down in buckets now.

"But," Cat whimpered out, clearly at a loss for words. She shrugged off Jade's grip and rubbed her eyes. "I bet you and Beck did something fancy on the computer to make it look like Robbie was kissing someone!"

"No-"

"Yes!" Cat screeched. She stood up and huddled herself into the corner of the patio.

Beck slid the door open and carefully stood out. He could hear the whole conversation from the living room. Jade was on the verge of tears as well. She gestured for him to take over.

"Hey, Cat," he started quietly.

Cat's sobs started to escalate. "You're both lying! I know you are!"

"Why would we make this up?"

"B-because," Cat hiccupped. Her gaze kept flickering between Beck and Jade. They both wore identical expressions of concern. "Jade's just jealous!"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Cat, you just apologized for saying that last night!"

"Well, I take it back! I take it back. You're jealous because _I_ have a boyfriend and _I'm_ happy."

"I'm not jealous," Jade growled. "Robbie's a two-timing loser."

"Jade, watch it," Beck warned under his breath. He was surprised when Cat allowed him to hug her tight. He smoothed down her hair and kissed the top of her head. "I saw them this morning, Cat. Andre and I also saw them at Nozu last week…"

Cat was beyond hysterical.

"I wanted to tell you," Jade whispered.

"He's not cheating on me!" Cat wailed. "He's not! Robbie loves me!"

Jade rubbed Cat's back and closed her eyes when she recoiled. Cat broke free from Beck and darted inside the house and up the stairs.

"Should we just leave her alone?" Beck said.

"No," Jade breathed out. "No. I'll go upstairs and talk to her. Send Vega up when she gets here, okay?"

Jade took her time up the stairs. She could hear Cat sobbing all the way down in the kitchen. "Cat?" she called out caringly when she reached the redhead's bedroom.

Cat was hiding under the bed like she did when she wanted to avoid somebody.

"Cat, come out," Jade requested. "Please?"

"No!" Cat yelled hysterically. "Go away, Jade! Just go away!"

Jade slid down the wall and sat next to Cat's bed. She lifted the bed skirt and found Cat with her face buried in both Mr. Purple and Mr. Longneck. That meant trouble. Both giraffes signaled Cat was beyond reason. The last time she hid under the bed with both stuffed animals was when her parents left for Idaho.

"I'm going to sit right here when you're ready to talk."

"Well I won't be ready to talk so you can sit there until your butt goes numb!"

Jade couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, Cat."

After ten minutes, Cat's sobs eventually turned into whimpers.

"Ready to talk?"

"No," Cat snapped nasally. "Never."

"So you're just going to live under your bed for the rest of your life?"

Cat groaned and shuffled around under the bed. "Maybe."

"You'd turn into a giant dust bunny," Jade laughed. "We'd have to sweep you away."

"Stop trying to make me laugh," Cat mumbled. "It won't work!"

"I'm just saying," Jade said in defense. "You'd make a pretty cute dust bunny though, don't you think? You'd be like a little red ball of fluff."

Despite her earlier statement, Cat giggled.

"Aha!" Jade grinned, peering under the bed skirt. "You laughed."

"Did not," Cat said, pouting into her giraffes. "I, I coughed."

Jade leaned back against the wall and smiled. "Nope. That was a Cat Valentine giggle." She did her very best impression of Cat's cute little laugh.

"Phooey."

"Are you ready to come out? You can cry into my shoulder."

It took Cat a few minutes to consider Jade's offer. She eventually rolled out from under the bed and looked at Jade heartbreakingly. "What did I do wrong, Jadey?"

"Nothing," Jade was quick to say. She pulled Cat on to her lap and held her tightly. "You did nothing wrong, baby girl. Robbie's just a…jerk."

Cat clung to Jade for a good ten minutes. She was all cried out but still held on to her best friend. "But I loved him."

"I know you did," Jade sighed into Cat's hair. "I know you did."

"Jade?"

"Cat?"

Cat giggled. "Why did Robbie make you cry?"

"It doesn't matter," Jade whispered. She rubbed Cat's back when she felt the small girl shift around in her arms. "I'm going to make him cry."

"I, I want to know," Cat demanded through a fresh set of tears.

"After Andre and Beck saw him at Nozu with that skank, I, I went to see him. He followed me back home and told me it was none of my business. Then he, he said if I had a boyfriend of my own then I wouldn't worry about you guys."

"What else?"

"Just, just some stuff about Beck," Jade whispered. "How Beck, uh, how Beck didn't want me anymore…"

Cat burst into tears.

"It's okay," Jade reassured Cat. "It's okay."

"It's not okay!" Cat continued to cry. "It's not okay. When you fell asleep that night Beck sent you a text, and, and…"

Jade kissed the top of Cat's head. "It was you that deleted it?"

"I'm sorry," Cat whimpered. "How did you know?"

"I saw it on Beck's phone," Jade said.

"I'm sorry," Cat repeated. She looked up at Jade sadly. "I didn't want him to hurt you again."

"Don't worry. He won't," Jade replied shortly. She looked up at the doorway and motioned for Tori to come in.

Tori carefully stepped in the room and kneeled in front of Cat. "I'm so sorry, Cat."

"You knew?" Cat said, whipping around to face Tori.

"I'm sorry," Tori frowned, rubbing Cat's back. "Andre, uh, Andre and Beck went to see Robbie to make sure he doesn't come near you."

Jade held Cat in place when she went to get up. "Please let me go," Cat pleaded shyly. She started to cry again. "Please! Let me go! Jadey, please."

"Cat, it will be okay," Tori promised. But Cat wasn't listening. Jade reluctantly let her go and she crawled right back under the bed.

Jade stood up and rubbed her face. "Just leave her," she told Tori.

"I'm sorry," Tori apologized once they shut Cat's bedroom door behind them. "I, I should have believed you when this happened six months ago."

"Yeah, you should have," Jade snapped, heading for her room. "Then none of this would have happened. "

Tori didn't bother following Jade. She felt the tears well up in her eyes and retreated downstairs to wait for Andre.

Jade grabbed her PearPad and plugged in her headphones. She could her Cat's faint sobs through the wall and it was all too much for her. A little loud music would drown it out perfectly. She climbed in bed and shut her eyes, blocking out the world.

She stayed like that for what felt like hours. Cat would eventually fall asleep under the bed soon. The sobs would stop but start up again the next day. Jade didn't want to think about what the days ahead of them would bring. Her movie premiere was in a few days and Tori was going to visit her parents the same day. Cat wouldn't fair well alone. She had contemplated inviting Beck. Just so he could see her on the big screen. Just so he could be proud of her.

The bed shifted slightly and Jade assumed it was either Cat looking to snuggle or Tori ready to grovel for her forgiveness. But when she saw the tan arm encircle her waist, she smiled idiotically in the pillow.

Jade removed her headphones from the PearPad and tilted her head back to see Beck peering down at her in concern. "Did you kill Robbie?"

Beck laughed and cuddled into Jade's side. "Nah," he said regretfully. "We just scared him a bit. Though Andre did break his glasses."

"Good," Jade said in satisfaction. "I would have kneed him in the balls."

"I know you would have."

"Did he say why?"

"No," Beck whispered. He smiled when he felt Jade's hand grab his own. "He just kept babbling and crying."

"Good."

Beck brushed the hair out of Jade's face. "How's Cat?"

"Heartbroken," Jade whispered. "Completely heartbroken."

"Can I see her?"

Jade shrugged. "She's under her bed. You can try but she probably won't talk to you."

"I'll give it a shot." Out of instinct, Beck kissed the back of Jade's head. He cleared his throat awkwardly and made his way into Cat's room. She was still under the bed indeed. He knelt down and lifted the pink bed skirt. "Can I come in?"

Cat rolled over and looked at Beck. "Kay."

Beck groaned as he maneuvered himself under the bed. He finally managed to get himself comfortable and looked at Cat sympathetically. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Cat said softly. Her eyes were bright red from crying.

"It's not okay," Beck corrected. He squeezed Cat's hand. "It's not okay."

Cat just shrugged and held tighter to Mr. Longneck. "Beck?"

"Yeah?"

"Hold Mr. Purple," she commanded cutely. When Beck took the purple giraffe without any question, Cat sighed and looked at him. "I did something stupid."

Beck raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I deleted the message you sent to Jade."

It took Beck a minute to comprehend what Cat was saying. Her sentence came out in one rushed breath and immediately after, she buried her face in Mr. Longneck.

"Oh," Beck sighed.

"I'm so sorry," Cat said in a panic. "I thought it was you that made Jade cry and I didn't want you to hurt her again!"

"Okay, it's okay," Beck said soothingly when Cat began to cry again. "Cat, it's okay."

Cat shook her head. "No, no," she cried. "Please don't be mad at Jade. Or me."

"I'm not mad," Beck told Cat genuinely. "I promise, Cat. I'm just," he trailed off with a sigh, squeezing Mr. Purple's neck. "I'm just tired of everyone thinking I'm going to hurt Jade again."

"I'm sorry."

Beck shrugged. "You were just being a good friend."

Cat scooted closer to Beck and dropped her head on his chest. She smiled when Beck rubbed her back. It was like old times. "Do you still love Jade?"

Silence.

"Beck?"

"Yeah, Cat," Beck finally breathed out. "I still do."

"She knows about the message," Cat winked. "You should go kiss her."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Beck chuckled and ruffled Cat's hair. "It's not that simple, kiddo. I have to wait for the right moment." He peered down to see Cat sound asleep against his chest. There was no possible way he could move her.

Jade eventually found the two and smiled at the sight. Beck looked a bit helpless though as he tried playing Grumpy Gerbils with just one hand.

"You know you're stuck there, right?" Jade chuckled.

"It could be worse," Beck said in defense. He put his phone down and patted the space next to him. "Keep me company?"

"I guess," Jade teased as she crawled under the bed. She tilted her PearPad up on her chest and handed Beck one headphone bud. "I figure if you're going to be stuck here you might as well have some entertainment."

Beck smiled when Jade put on an old black and white movie.

"Are you busy Wednesday? Jade asked timidly. She paused the movie and took out the ear bud to distract herself with.

"It depends," Beck joked with a grin. "What's going on Wednesday?"

"My movie premiere," Jade whispered. She looked up and saw Beck smiling at her. "I mean, we don't have to stay for the movie or anything. It might be too scary for you."

Beck tickled Jade's sides and tried not to flinch when she elbowed him in the face.

"I think I'll survive," Beck deadpanned. "It's a date."

"Uh, yeah," Jade said hesitantly. She played the movie and stared at it. "It's a date."

* * *

**We're getting closer...and closer...and closer. If you caught my foreshadowing you get a cookie! **


End file.
